Four Brits dead after stomach bug hits popular holiday island

Hospitals are a “war zone”

The outbreak of shigella, a highly contagious bacterial infection, has hit thousands of tourists in the island in West Africa, it has been reported.

Hospitals have been described as a “war zone” as they’re flooded with patients.

Now, over 1,500 tourists from Britain have instructed specialist lawyers to take legal action. after becoming sick on trips booked through TUI.

Mark Ashley, 55-year-old and dad of two, in October developed severe stomach pain, diarrhoea, vomiting and fever.

This happened just three days into his two-week stay with wife Emma. He collapsed a few weeks after returning from the resort, and was rushed to hospital but was tragically pronounced dead on arrival.

His wife, Emma, said that the family were in “complete shock” and are demanding answers from the five-star RIU Palace Santa Maria resort in Sal, and why the holiday went so wrong.

“We went to Cape Verde expecting a relaxing break, but Mark became violently ill and never recovered. The last couple of months have been unbearable, and our family will never be the same again”, she said.

She added that at the hotel that she and her husband were staying, the foo was often “lukewarm”, and “sanitation seemed poor”.

Karen Pooley was another British tourist who died during a stay in Cape Verde.

The mum-of-two became sick while staying at RIU Funana resort of Sal with a friend in October.

Her cause of death was given as multi-organ failure, sepsis, cardiac arrest and a broken left leg, as she had also broken her leg slipping on water in the hotel.

Karen’s husband Andy, 62, said their family were ‘utterly heartbroken’ by her death.

Elena Walsh, 64, and an anonymous 54-year-old British man also died in Cape Verde in the last three months.

All four were in one of the six hotels run by the Spanish chain RIU, and while they had underlying health conditions but they were manageable.

What is shigella and how is it spread?

The highly contagious infection is caused by contaminated faeces and is transmitted from food, water or person-to-person.

While it is common in young children and usually clears up in a few days, the bowel infection can be serious for people with underlying medical conditions.

Between October and December of last year, the UK Health Security Agency recorded 137 cases of shigella, and alarmingly, 80 per cent of cases were patients who recently returned from Cape Verde.

An outbreak of shigella occurred in 2022, which caused the death of Jane Pressley, 62, from Lincolnshire.

In November 2022, the ECDC had spotted a spike in shigella cases on Cape Verde, including 23 cases from UK citizens in the previous 12 months, as reported by The Times.