Health officials have taken 277 blood samples from those onboard ship docked in Caribbean island of Curaçao

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

A Church of Scientology cruise ship docked in the Caribbean island of Curaçao will remain under quarantine until government authorities determine how many of the ship’s 318 passengers are infected with measles.

Health officials have taken 277 blood samples from those onboard the ship and sent them to the Netherlands. The results are expected to come back by Tuesday or Wednesday, according to the Associated Press. Ten passengers and 31 crew members were able to provide proof of vaccination.

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Health officials in St Lucia were notified on 30 April that a female crew member onboard the ship had been diagnosed with measles. The crew member had traveled to Europe, arrived on Curaçao on 17 April and visited a doctor for cold symptoms on 22 April. A blood sample sent to Aruba confirmed she had measles on 29 April, a day after the ship departed for St Lucia, according to the Associated Press.

After deliberations with the Pan American Health Organization, St Lucia health officials put the ship under quarantine on 30 April.

The ship left St Lucia on Thursday and returned to its home port in Curaçao on Saturday. A team of nine medical professionals and authorities boarded the vessel to start interviewing and testing passengers, according to CNN.

As they await the test results, passengers and crew members are not allowed to leave the ship because of the risk that they carry the highly infectious disease, authorities said.

“If we allow that to happen, measles spreads in places where the risk of severe complications is much bigger, especially when we’re talking about poor countries where people have a lower level of resistance,” Curaçao epidemiologist Izzy Gerstenbluth told the Associated Press on Saturday.

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Gerstenbluth said that passengers on the ship have been cooperating with officials.

The vessel has been identified as Freewinds, the 440-ft cruise ship owned and operated by the Church of Scientology. The church uses the ship for religious retreats, according to its website.

The number of measles cases in the US has hit a 25-year high, with 764 cases across 23 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Health experts and government officials attribute the outbreak to misinformation about vaccinations spread by the growing anti-vaccination movement.

The Church of Scientology has not taken a specific position on vaccinations, though it says that Scientologists seek standard medical care and prescription drugs when ill. The church did not respond to the Guardian’s request for comment.