Major update as 1,700 stranded on cruise in gastroenteritis outbreak after man dies

Officials have issued a major update as more than 1,700 passengers and crew remain stranded on a British cruise ship where a 92-year-old man died during a gastroenteritis outbreak. French officials have stopped passengers leaving the Ambition after dozens onboard fell ill with the stomach bug during the voyage from Belfast and Liverpool to France and Spain . The scare comes just days after a deadly hantavirus outbreak on board another cruise ship left three passengers dead and sparked an international health alert . But French authorities have stressed there is "no reason" to link the two incidents. "There is no reason to establish a link between this outbreak aboard a cruise ship from Belfast and Liverpool and the hantavirus cases detected aboard the MV Hondius ," a joint statement by Etienne Guyot, the prefect of Nouvelle-Aquitaine region and Gironde department, and the regional health agency said. The Ambition was halfway through a two week cruise from Belfast and Liverpool that was due to take in ports in northern Spain and along France's Atlantic coast. It reached Bordeaux on Tuesday evening, according to the operator, Ambassador Cruise Line. The 92-year-old male passenger died on Sunday but had not reported symptoms consistent with the illness, and his cause of death is yet to be established by a coroner. The operator said 48 passengers and one crew member were displaying gastrointestinal symptoms as of late Wednesday morning. According to Ambassador's data, cases had risen after passengers boarded in Liverpool on May 9. Guyot suspended disembarkation from the Ambition and restricted the vessel's interactions with the port of Bordeaux. He acted on the recommendation of the regional health agency, the Agence Regionale de Sante Nouvelle-Aquitaine, the joint statement said. Up to 50 people aboard the Ambition developed symptoms linked to an acute digestive infection, with patients made to isolate in their cabins as medical teams boarded the ship in Bordeaux. Those infected with gastroenteritis typically experience sudden, intense diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach cramps. Other symptoms include nausea, fever, fatigue, and muscle aches. Samples taken from patients on the ship are now being analysed at a Bordeaux hospital. The hantavirus outbreak aboard the MV Hondius last month sparked a major response by multiple countries, with passengers hospitalised in Britain, France, Spain and the US. Three passengers died and there have been nine confirmed cases, with another two suspected.