WSU BIOL209 Microbiology

The fact that staph germs are hanging out in remote precincts of the nose may explain why efforts to kill off the germs on carriers before elective surgery can fail, Relman thinks. The voyage up the nose also revealed that staph thrived only when another bacterial species, C. pseudodiptheriticum, was in short supply. It could be that this second microbe produces substances that keep staph at bay.

The industrial-size servings of food on a cruise ship with hundreds of passengers can be particularly worrisome, since once the virus enters the food it can spread rapidly. Food can also get more easily contaminated with the virus if it sits out for several hours, as is often the case with buffet-style meals.

And so many people being in one place eases the virus's spread. "In close quarters it doesn't get away, everything's concentrated," Zimring says.

The best defense against gastrointestinal disease, Zimring says, is to wash and sanitize your hands constantly

Over the past five years, an average of about 14 cruise ships a year have had outbreaks of diarrheal illness, and the culprit is almost always norovirus

The best way to avoid it is prevention, and the best prevention is hand washing.

The problem, he said, is passengers. “If Grandma is sick when she gets on, she’s going on the cruise anyway,” Dr. Vinjé said. “And that’s how the virus gets onboard. Then it lands on handrails and doorknobs, and the transmission continues.”

The drug was contaminated with the spores of a common leaf mold — nobody knows how.

Five patients have died.

Compounding pharmacies, which provide up to 10 percent of U.S. pharmaceuticals, are more loosely regulated than traditional drug companies. As is common, NECC is licensed by a state pharmacy board, which doesn't have the staff to conduct regular inspections. The company has been cited for contamination problems in the past, as the Boston Globe reports.