Four Britons die in three months from stomach bug as ‘nightmare’ outbreak plagues holiday hotspot

This month, the first major group action lawsuit reaches the High Court, with 300 claimants who fell ill after staying at the RIU Palace Santa Maria in 2022 set to have their case heard.

The claimants allege TUI breached its obligations under the Package Travel Regulations 2018 by failing to provide safe food, drink and hotel facilities.

TUI is contesting the allegations and denies liability.

The outbreak centres on shigella, a highly contagious bacterial infection transmitted through contaminated faeces via food, water or direct contact between individuals.

Between October and December, the UK Health Security Agency recorded 137 confirmed cases of the illness, with 80 per cent of patients having recently returned from the West African archipelago.

European health authorities identified a similar pattern across the continent, with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control reporting increased shigella infections in the Netherlands, Sweden, Ireland and France, all linked to Cape Verde travel.

The Foreign Office issued a formal warning to British travellers in December, advising heightened hygiene precautions.

The most recent wave of infections at the end of 2025 affected hundreds of holidaymakers, marking the second major outbreak to strike the islands.

Among the victims was Mark Ashley, a 55-year-old self-employed forklift driver from Houghton Regis in Bedfordshire.

The father of two developed severe stomach pain, diarrhoea, vomiting and fever three days into a fortnight-long stay at the five-star RIU Palace Santa Maria resort in Sal with his wife Emma.

Weeks after returning from the £3,000 trip, he collapsed at home and was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital.

"We went to Cape Verde expecting a relaxing break, but Mark became violently ill and never recovered," Emma, 55, said. "The last couple of months have been unbearable, and our family will never be the same again."

She described food at the hotel as frequently lukewarm, with poor sanitisation and drinking water stored outside in direct sunlight.

Karen Pooley, 64, from Lydney in Gloucestershire, died after contracting a sickness bug at the RIU Funana resort.

The mother of two, who had cerebral palsy, fractured her femur after slipping while rushing to the bathroom during her illness.

Despite the severity of her injury, which typically requires surgery within 48 hours, she waited four days at the Clinitur clinic without an operation. Her son James described the facility as "a war zone" based on telephone conversations with his mother.

"In the background of all the calls, you could just hear constant retching. You could hear people in pain," he recalled.

The Foreign Office describes Cape Verde's medical facilities as "very basic and limited."

Karen's travel companion Corinne Hibbert, who was later diagnosed with shigella upon returning to Britain, expressed her anguish: "When you book a holiday, you don't expect to go and then your friend comes home in a box."

TUI and RIU Hotels & Resorts issued a joint statement to The Sunday Times expressing they were "deeply saddened" by the deaths and offering "heartfelt condolences to the families affected."

Jatinder Paul, a serious injury lawyer at Irwin Mitchell representing the victims' families, described the scale of illness among British tourists as "truly staggering."

"Each case isn't a statistic; it's a human story of how lives have been turned upside down," he said.

Jess Richards, a 31-year-old who fell ill during her honeymoon and later tested positive for shigella, issued a stark warning to fellow Britons.

"Don't go to Cape Verde," she said. "Your health and the money in your pocket is not worth ever putting yourself in that kind of risk."