At least 100 passengers and crew on board P&O's newest cruise ship have caught the Norwalk vomiting virus.

The Oceana is visiting the Caribbean island of Aruba and has 2,000 passengers and 900 crew on board.

The Norwalk bug is highly contagious and causes vomiting and stomach upsets but is not life-threatening.

P&O, which runs cruises out of Portsmouth and Southampton, says it is attempting to contain the outbreak by increasing sanitation standards.

Other outbreaks

The Oceana is one of several cruise ships to be affected by an outbreak of sickness in recent weeks.

On Tuesday 200 people aboard the American liner Carnival Fascination fell ill from the virus during a trip to the Bahamas.

Florida is also suffering a major outbreak of the Norwalk virus.

It is believed that passengers or crew may have picked up the bug when the Oceana docked there at the weekend.

The Disney Cruise Line and the Holland America cruise company, which both sail out of Florida, have been forced to cancel some cruises.