Two passengers on a cruise ship docked in Barcelona have tested positive for swine flu, the Spanish Health Ministry said Wednesday.
The two women from the United States and Italy have been quarantined aboard the vessel Navigator of the Seas, owned by Royal Caribbean, along with their travel companions, but no one else on the ship has come down with the illness, a ministry official said. He did not know the total number of passengers on board.
The women will remain on the ship and it will leave as scheduled Wednesday night for Palma, on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca, the official said. There doctors will examine them again.
The ministry said Spain has now confirmed a total of 541 cases of swine flu in the country.
The cruise ship began its trip in Italy and stopped off in France before arriving in Barcelona. It warned Spanish authorities Tuesday, before arriving in Barcelona, that two women had tested positive for swine flu.
They will stay on the ship in quarantine because it is riskier to take them off and expose them to other people, the official said.
The 34-year-old Italian is traveling with her husband and son, and the 58-year-old American is with a female friend, the official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity in line with ministry rules.