St Lucia's chief medical officer said the action was taken after a case of the highly contagious disease was diagnosed on board
A SCIENTOLOGY cruise ship has been quarantined over measles outbreak fears with all 300 passengers on a "religious retreat" ordered to stay on board.
The Caribbean nation of St Lucia slapped the quarantine order on the ship, barring any passengers or crew from leaving the boat while in port.
The island's chief medical officer said the action was taken on Monday as a precaution after a case of the highly contagious disease was diagnosed on board.
The infected female patient - a member of the crew - has been isolated and is in a stable condition, according to St Lucia's chief medical officer, Dr Marlene Fredericks-James.
She said on Wednesday: "Measles is a highly contagious disease. Anyone who is not adequately immunised against measles can contract the disease, if there has been close contact with a confirmed case.
"It is therefore likely that other persons on the boat may have been exposed.
"The ship's doctor has the confirmed case in isolation on the ship. The individual is in a stable condition."
The St Lucia Ministry of Health ordered the restriction after speaking with the Pan American Health Organisation and other officials about the risk of exposure to islanders.
In light of the current measles outbreaks in the United States and the highly infectious nature of the disease "we thought it prudent that we quarantine the ship," Frederick-James added.
She gave no information about the ship or its origins.
But , citing a St Lucia Coast Guard sergeant, reported the boat is named Freewinds, which is the name of a 440-foot vessel owned and operated by the Church of Scientology.
Although no one has been allowed to leave the ship, St Lucian officials said they do not have the power to stop Freewinds from leaving port towards the island of Dominica as scheduled today.
The Church of Scientology website describes the cruise ship as a floating "religious retreat ministering the most advanced level of spiritual counselling in the Scientology religion."
News agency Reuters contacted church officials for comment.
The secretive and controversial religion - regarded as a cult by many former members - boasts Tom Cruise among its believers.
The Mission Impossible star is considered as a "God" in Scientology, where low-ranking members are ordered to watch his new films, it has been claimed.
The cruise ship quarantine comes as the number of measles cases in the US has reached a 25-year peak with more than 700 people diagnosed as of this week, part of an international resurgence in the disease.
Public health officials blame declining vaccination rates in some communities driven by misinformation about inoculation that has left those populations vulnerable to rapid spread of infection among those with no immunity to the virus.
Health authorities in Los Angeles last month ordered quarantines on two university campuses after each one had reported at least one confirmed case.
The vast majority of American cases have occurred in children who have not received the three-way vaccines against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR), which confers immunity to the disease, officials said.
Measles is spread through casual contact with the virus, which can remain infectious in the air of an enclosed space for up to two hours after it is breathed out by someone carrying the disease.
The rate of transmission from an infected person to another person nearby who lacks immunity is about 90 per cent, and an infected person can be contagious for four days before showing signs of the disease.
"None" of America's largest religions prohibits the use of vaccines, say vaccination experts writing for Columbia University’s blog.
They said: “Only a small handful of minor religions — Scientology, Dutch Reformed Congregations, and certain faith healing denominations — resist vaccination due to theological objections.”
However, in an interview with BeliefNet, Rev. John Carmichael of the Church of Scientology stated that there were no precepts or strictures about vaccinations within Scientology.
He said: “Scientologists are pretty independent people… they tend to do a little more research on the effect of various medical procedures.
“They make their own decisions, but those aren’t decisions that the church tries to influence in any way.”
In 2016, the Hollywood Reporter said that "a notable number of the highest-profile immunisation dissenters are Scientologists" including Juliette Lewis and Kirstie Alley.
According to the church’s website, Scientologists do use prescribed medical drugs when physically ill and also rely on the advice and treatment of medical doctors.
It adds that the “Church of Scientology has always had the firm policy of not diagnosing or treating the sick.
“A Scientologist with a physical condition is advised to seek and obtain the needed examination and treatment of a qualified medical professional.”
But, “independent of any medical treatment, a Scientologist then addresses any accompanying spiritual trauma connected to that condition.”
In America, 47 states currently allow religious exemptions from vaccines.
Experts have called for a change to the laws, so that “fringe religious objections do not get in the way of protecting the safety of our communities”, the Columbia blog adds.
A Very Well Family online article about religious exemptions to vaccines in the US says those with an absolute objection to vaccines include small Christian churches, such as Faith Assembly, Faith Tabernacle, End Time Ministries and Church of the First Born.
At the First Church of Christ, Scientist, Christian Scientists “believe in healing through prayer and think that vaccines aren’t necessary”, the report adds.
Plus, there are “many groups” within other religions in the US who are opposed to getting their kids vaccinated, including some Amish and Dutch Reformed churches.
Although Jehovah’s Witnesses once opposed vaccines, which were banned within the group, in 1952 it said that vaccination “does not appear to be in violation of the everlasting covenant made with Noah.”
