CDC helps cruise line study virus aboard Carnival Liberty

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention joined the Carnival Liberty cruise ship to look into the outbreak of a gastrointestinal illness.

Video | Hundreds affected by virus on Carnival cruise

Investigators from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention joined the last leg of the Carnival Liberty's cruise in St. Maarten on Thursday to probe a gastrointestinal outbreak that hit more than 600 passengers and crew over the past 13 days.

The outbreak on the 110-ton cruise ship, which is slated to arrive in Fort Lauderdale on Sunday, is among the largest in recent memory, according to the CDC.

The 2,804-passenger Liberty left a port near Rome on Nov. 3 for a 16-day trans-Atlantic voyage, and by the next day, guests began showing symptoms of diarrhea and vomiting. Those symptoms match Norovirus, a highly contagious virus that causes gastroenteritis, although the virus hasn't been confirmed on the Liberty...