Submitting Gastroenteritis Reports

Reporting Gastrointestinal Illnesses

All cruise ship vessels are required to submit an Acute Gastroenteritis (AGE) Report prior to arrival at a Canadian port, even when the number of reportable AGE cases is zero. When 2% or more of passengers or crew are reporting a gastrointestinal (GI) illness, timely reporting becomes especially critical.

A reportable case of AGE is defined as diarrhea (three or more episodes of loose stools within a 24-hour period, or above normal for the individual), or vomiting accompanied by at least one additional symptom, including one or more episodes of loose stools within a 24-hour period, abdominal cramps, headache, muscle aches, or fever.

AGE reports play a critical role in monitoring and controlling the spread of illness. Timely and accurate reporting supports public health response efforts and ensures compliance with public health regulations.

There are three types of reports:

• 24-hour reports must be submitted 24 to 36 hours before a ship arrives at port
• 4-hour reports are submitted if the number of cases changes after submission of the 24 hour report, and must be submitted no less than 4 hours before arriving in a Canadian port.
• Special reports must be submitted by the master or designated corporate representative of a vessel on an international itinerary destined for a Canadian port whenever the cumulative percentage of reportable cases recorded in the AGE surveillance log reaches 2% among passengers or 2% among crew for the entire voyage. This requirement applies at any time during the cruise, including between two Canadian ports, or when the vessel is within 15 days of its expected arrival at a Canadian port.

To submit a report, follow these steps:

1. Log into the Gastrointestinal Illness Report Form at https://safeport-uat-public-hc-sc.powerappsportals.com/en/GI-Report.
2. Enter the information on the form. All required fields indicated by an asterisk must be completed.
• International Maritime Organization (IMO) number
• Cruise line name, selected from a drop down
• Vessel name
• Captain’s name and email address
• Ship phone and fax numbers
• Voyage number
• Report type which is based on the report type description above
• Previous port
• Next Canadian port, selected from a menu
• Next Canadian port arrival date and time. The date and time must be entered in Coordinated Universal Time.
• Embarkation date and disembarkation date
• Total number of passengers
• Number of passenger gastrointestinal cases
• Total number of crew
• Number of crew gastrointestinal cases
• Medical contact name, title, email address and phone number
• Indication of who is submitting the report
• If you are submitting the report, specify your name, title, email address and telephone number

Remember, if you have not completed all the mandatory fields, you will get an error message. The mandatory fields are the ones marked with a red asterisk.

3. Click Next.
4. Review the information for accuracy.
5. Click Submit.

You are done.