The CDC's Vessel Sanitation Program has laid off its full-time workforce amid a rise in norovirus cases onboard cruise ships. Founded in 1975, the VSP collaborates with the cruise industry to ensure health safety through inspections and outbreak response. Although full-time roles have been terminated, certain U.S. Public Health officers will remain to facilitate operations. Industry insiders believe that the cruise lines will likely support the VSP's financial needs, given their historical funding of the program, which was designed to maintain higher sanitation standards than those provided by the FDA.
"The VSP was established in 1975 to work with the cruise industry to protect travelers' health, undertaking vessel inspections and responding to outbreaks like gastroenteritis."
"Public reports have noted that the program is administered and staffed primarily by commissioned U.S. Public Health officers, so we expect programmatic activities to continue in some capacity."
"The cruise industry will most likely back (a vessel sanitation program) financially, because they are the ones already funding the inspections."
"The VSP exists because the cruise industry wanted a higher standard of inspection than the U.S. Food & Drug Administration could offer hotels and clubs in the United States at the time."
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