Ship of Fools

The latest stories on yet another boat-load of sick cruise-ship passengers begin to ask if any special "outbreak" of the Norwalk or a related virus is underway. About time.

Put a couple thousand land-lubbin' people in close quarters on a big, rolling ship, and ply them with rich, unfamiliar food, and in the winter when various bugs flourish, and maybe ten percent or so—the headlines "hundreds"—get sick. Is this really out of the norm?

Or is it the latest easy to plot, script, and report media-made hype?