At a glance
Learn about our mission and work to address environmentally related illnesses and hazards on cruise ships. Our areas of focus include acute gastroenteritis, Legionella mitigation, vector control, air quality, recreational water facility safety, and more.
Background
VSP has helped the cruise industry prevent and control the spread of acute gastroenteritis (AGE) on cruise ships since the 1970s. For more than a decade, we have been working beyond acute gastroenteritis (for example, Legionella mitigation, vector control, air quality, recreational water facility safety).
The mission revision, announced at our 2024 annual meeting, reflects our work more accurately. Learn about the eight areas we inspect on cruise ships.
Mission
The Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) helps the cruise ship industry prevent and control the introduction and spread of environmentally associated illnesses and hazards on cruise ships. We accomplish our mission by:
- Inspecting cruise ships in periodic, unannounced environmental public health inspections
- Reviewing ship design plans for compliance with VSP's environmental public health construction standards
- Collecting data and monitoring environmentally associated illnesses and hazards
- Investigating and responding to illness outbreaks
- Training cruise ship employees on environmental public health practices
- Building the evidence for environmental public health practices through innovative and collaborative research