Fla. amphib: At-sea quarantine months

Twenty-five sailors and Marines aboard the USS Fort McHenry (LSD 43), a Whidbey Island class amphibious warship home-ported out of Mayport, Fla., has essentially been quarantined at sea for almost three months and unable to make a port call due to an outbreak of parotitis, a viral infection similar to mumps, according to military officials. Until CNN asked, the military had not disclosed any information about the outbreak. The illness first broke out Dec. 22. The most recent case reported was March 9. "None of the cases are life-threatening and all have either already made or are expected to make a full recovery," the U.S. Fifth Fleet announced in a statement to CNN. All 703 personnel aboard the ship have received measles, mumps and rubella booster vaccinations, according to Fifth Fleet’s HQ in Bahrain. The ship is currently operating somewhere in the Persian Gulf. Shipboard medical officials are assessing when it may be medically safe to make a port call, generally 30 days after the last reported illness (March 9). The ship includes elements of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU). Since the initial case Dec. 22, 24 of 25 patients have returned to duty. No one had to be medically-evacuated from the ship, and are expected to make a full recovery, officials said. A Navy medical team, specializing in preventive medicine, is expected to deploy in days to make a further assessment, says a Fifth Fleet official. (Source: CNN 03/13/19) Fort McHenry left Mayport in mid-December as part of the Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group (ARG), which consisted of the USS Kearsarge (LHD 3), USS Arlington (LPD 24), USS Fort McHenry (LSD 43), MEU 22, and Fleet Surgical Team (FST) 2.