P&O Cruise Ship
New P&O cruise ship Pacific Aria sails past the Sydney Opera House for the first time following an official naming ceremony on Sydney harbour, November 25, 2015. Reuters/Jason Reed

A 79-year-old Australian woman died in her luxury cabin while aboard the P&O Pacific Jewel cruise ship. There are several passengers also unwell, indicating a possible outbreak of gastroenteritis.

However, P&O said there is no gastroenteritis outbreak on the cruise vessel which left Sydney on Sept 6 for a 10-night “Barrier Reef Discovery cruise, reports Sydney Morning Herald. Police, who inspected the ship on Saturday afternoon when the vessel was docked at Yorkeys Knob in Cairns, say the victim, Margaret Carlson, died of natural causes several hours earlier.

An autopsy would be performed, and a report is being prepared for the coroner, reports Courier Mail.

According to Carlson’s daughter and teenage grandson, it was her seventh cruise in 10 years. She showed signs of gastroenteritis and the ship’s medical staff told her she probably brought the bug with her when she boarded the vessel. Her two companions also became sick after boarding P&O.

While the ship management insists there is no outbreak, Vanessa D’Souza, daughter of Margaret, says, “My first priority was to let people know, because I thought you would not want to send your mother or grandmother on that [ship).” She will remain with the cruise ship until it returns to Sydney on Friday when it docks, disembarks the passengers and picks up another batch of passengers.

Because gastroenteritis is not a notifiable condition, the ship is not obliged to report it if there is an outbreak. Queensland Health says it has not been informed about an outbreak, although one passenger was medically evacuated from P&O by helicopter on Monday, but the reason was not divulged.

VIDEO: Symptoms of Gastroenteritis

Source: Medical Symptoms TV