[imagesource:belalgarve]

A sudden outbreak has left travellers reeling, turning their getaway into a bit of an onslaught.

Nearly 1,000 tourists, struck down by a mysterious stomach bug while vacationing in Cape Verde, are now taking legal action against luxury hotels on the island.

Cape Verde, or Cabo Verde as it’s known locally, is a mesmerising archipelago located in the central Atlantic Ocean, off the northwest coast of Africa.

So far, 926 people have come forward over the last three years, claiming they all fell ill with the same stomach sickness, with many left hospitalised turning their luxury getaways into “holidays from hell”.

According to The Telegraph, holiday-goers reported infections like Shigella and Salmonella, leaving some unable to leave their rooms for days. Among those affected were Cordelia Plummer and Ian Waller, from Birmingham and Kingston-Upon-Hull, who joined a growing number of travellers seeking legal aid after their two-week trip in July turned into a health ordeal.

The pair fell seriously ill during their $5,800 (R100,000) all-inclusive holiday at a five-star hotel on Sal, one of Cape Verde’s islands.

Cordelia claims she was sick to her stomach for a whole week during the holiday, with severe gastric symptoms, including vomiting and diarrhoea. She alleges she was confined to her hotel room for four days, and upon returning to the UK, her GP suggested she exhibited signs of Shigella, a disease linked to a bacterial infection. Ian was struck down with similar symptoms in the last few days of their holiday together, with the illness sticking around until his return to the UK.

“The sheer volume of clients we’re continuing to see coming forward having fallen ill during stays in Cape Verde over the last three years is incredibly concerning,” Jatinder Paul, a specialist international serious injury lawyer at Irwin Mitchell who is representing the holiday-makers, told The Telegraph.

“The numbers involved show that these aren’t isolated incidents. The fact that significant numbers are still approaching us with similar first-hand accounts points towards a worrying picture of ongoing illness that shows no sign of ending.

Paul said that gastric illness can result in long-term health problems or even death, and the fear is this could end in tragedy if something isn’t done to address the underlying causes.

Cordelia says she hopes to forget what was supposed to be a “dream two-week” holiday, saying “I think everyone has probably had an upset stomach at one time or another, but I have never felt so ill.”

It is understood that in 2022, a total of 806 people came forward with similar gastric symptoms, followed by 65 in 2023 and 55 so far this year.

[source:nypost]