Varicella vaccination as appropriate for susceptible travelers, particularly crew members, before maritime travel may decrease risk of varicella infection and prevent outbreaks on ships.

Background Deaths and certain illnesses onboard ships arriving at US ports are required to be reported to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and notifications of certain illnesses are requested. Methods We performed a descriptive analysis of required maritime illness and death reports of presumptive diagnoses and requested notifications to CDC’s Division of Global Migration and Quarantine, which manages CDC’s Quarantine Stations, from January 2010 to December 2014. Results CDC Quarantine Stations received 2891 individual maritime case reports: 76.8% (2221/2891) illness reports, and 23.2% (670/2891) death reports. The most frequent individual illness reported was varicella (35.9%, 797/2221) and the most frequently reported causes of death were cardiovascular- or pulmonary-related conditions (79.6%, 533/670). There were 7695 cases of influenza-like illness received within aggregate notifications. CDC coordinated 63 contact investigations with partners to identify 972 contacts; 88.0% (855/972) were notified. There was documentation of 6.5% (19/293) receiving post-exposure prophylaxis. Three pertussis contacts were identified as secondary cases; and one tuberculosis contact was diagnosed with active tuberculosis. Conclusion These data provide a picture of US maritime illness and death reporting and response. Varicella reports are the most frequent individual disease reports received. Contact investigations identified few cases of disease transmission.