British tourists ‘felt like hell on earth’ after getting Cape Verde bug on holiday
Several British tourists have revealed how the Cape Verde sickness bug left them ‘aggressively sick’ and ‘talking gibberish’.
An outbreak of a highly contagious bacterial infection called shigella has hit thousands of tourists in the West African island.
At least six British tourists have died, while more than 1,700 UK visitors are being represented by a personal injury law firm after becoming sick on trips to the African Island.
Four holidaymakers have now spoken to Metro about their experiences while on a TUI holiday and in a hotel run by the Spanish chain RIU.
Helen Wardle, 55, was on the third day of her holiday on the island of Sal last October when she began to feel unwell.
She became violently sick and was held up for days in her room in RIU Cabo Verde with her partner Richard and relying on diarrhoea tablets from the nearby clinic.
On the last day before flying home, she felt so terrible that she was admitted to the local clinic, called Clinitur, and put on a drip.
Helen claims the treatment was ‘awful’.
The mum-of-two from Plymouth told Metro: ‘I felt terrible. I was freezing. I was totally out of it. I did not have a clue.’
Then came ‘hell on earth’: The six-hour flight home the next day followed by a continued decline in health once back in the UK.
Helen said: ‘By the fourth day of being home, I was in a hell of a state.
‘I was talking gibberish, she said, ‘They took me down to the doctors and the pathology results said it was shigella.’
She said she was also told she had the tummy bug giardia, which can cause diarrhoea and tummy pain.
What is shigella?
Shigella is caused by contaminated faeces and is tramitted from food, water or person-to-person.
It is common in young children and usually clears up in a few days.
However the bowel infection can be serious for people with underlying medical conditions.
Helen claims she was dismissed by the TUI rep at the hotel and that a complaint she later filed with the travel company only received an acknowledgement email and no follow-up.
Despite getting home on October 14, Helen says it took until December for her to feel back to normal.
‘It is such a scary experience being ill in a foreign country and not knowing what is wrong with you,’ Helen added.
‘TUI are just putting their head in the sands.’
Helen has taken her case to personal injury law firm Irwin Mitchell, which isrepresenting more than 1,700 UK tourists to the African country who have fallen ill.
Responding to her allegations about Clinitur, the clinic told Metro: ‘Clinitur Lda’s facilities scrupulously comply with all national health sector standards, guidelines and procedures, and Clinitur Lda priorities and ensures the healthiness of its facilities, as well as their correct sanitation.’
Rebecca Ryman was on the island of Boa Vista in Cape Verde at the same time as Helen.
She spent most of the holiday having a ‘lovely time’ in the RIU Touareg hotel to celebrate her 30th birthday with her partner.
Then, on the second last day of her TUI holiday she became ‘aggressively sick’.
The communications manager, who did not notice any hygiene issues in the hotel, told Metro: ‘I assumed it was the heat, or alcohol, but it continued and continued.
‘It was savage. I had really bad stomach pains and was being sick.’
She managed to fly home the next day, but after several days of vomiting non-stop at home, she admitted herself to hospital in Colchester, Essex.
She was kept there in isolation for a week, on a bag of antibiotic drip a day.
Doctors diagnosed her with bacterial gastroenteritis caused by an unidentified foreign parasite, which could have been shigella, salmonella or something similar, they told her.
Rebecca, who has also taken her case to Irwin Mitchell, is upset that she was not warned about the risks of going to Cape Verde.
She added: ‘When you go on holiday, of course you do some basic research.
‘But you should not have to have a doctorate to make an informed decision about where to go on holiday. It is terrifying.
‘Irwin Mitchell explained to me that I am one of the more severe cases of treatment.’
Rebecca says her immune system is still ‘not back to normal’ after travelling in October.
A couple weeks before Rebecca fell ill, Tina and Ian Gough were struck down by a stomach bug in a different RIU hotel on Boa Vista.
The married couple, 54 and 57 respectively, were regular TUI travellers who thought the company effectively dealt with previous issues.
The pair, from Carmarthenshire, claimed there were ‘flies all over the food’ in the hotel.
Then a week into their stay at Riu Karamboa, Tina became violently ill.
Tina, who is disabled and uses a wheelchair, said: ‘I could not keep anything down. You are sitting on the toilet with a bucket in your hands because you did not know what was going to happen first.’
While she began to recover in a few days, Ian was struck down next.
Tina had to rely on family friends to take her around the resort to get food for Ian, who lost nearly a stone in weight due to stomach upset.
They claimed ‘nobody cared’ that they were sick and that the TUI rep was ‘dismissive’ of their hygiene.
The pair, who spent £1,700 each on the trip, said their stomachs were upset for weeks after.
Tina and Ian never went to a hospital or clinic and accept they have no proof of what caused their health problems.
The couple did complain to TUI and received an email saying from the company, saying they were ‘sorry to hear’ they were unwell during their trip and sorry to hear about their complaints over hygiene.
TUI refused to offer any compensation due to a ‘lack of evidence and reports for the issues raised.’
But the couple are not working with Irwin Mitchell and say they are not interested in compensation, but just want to raise awareness of the problems rampant in Cape Verde.
Ian told Metro: ‘It has really put a dampner on our experience with TUI. They should not be sending people there at all.’
Jatinder Paul of Irwin Mitchell, said they ‘continue to be contacted by more people who have reported being struck down by serious illnesses after travelling to Cape Verde.’
They added: ‘The first-hand accounts of their symptoms and how they say their holidays have been ruined are all too familiar and worrying. The effects of gastric illness should never be downplayed as symptoms can lead to life-long and debilitating complications and even death.’
The UK Health Security Agency recorded 137 cases of shigella between October and December, with a staggering 80 per cent of cases being patients who recently returned from Cape Verde.
The outbreak has led the Foreign Office to warn tourists about the risks of travelling to the holiday hotspot.
It is not the first time shigella struck the island, with an outbreak being recorded in 2022.
TUI has not responded to Metro’s request for comment on the specific cases mentioned in this story.
Responding to the initial Sunday Times investigation into Cape Verde, a spokeswoman for TUI told the newspaper: ‘While we cannot comment on individual cases, customer safety remains at the heart of our operations. With industry-leading standards and robust measures in place, we are committed to ensuring customers are protected wherever they are.
‘Tui follows FCDO advice for all destinations and, through our global health and safety management programme, conducts investigations in co-operation with hotel partners and relevant authorities.’
In relation to the cases Metro raised with RIU Hotels & Resorts, they said: ‘At RIU Hotels & Resorts, the health and safety of our guests is always our main priority.
‘RIU has been operating in Cape Verde for 20 years and currently manages six hotels, totaling 4,650 rooms and employing 3,307 staff members. We maintain an average occupancy rate of over 90% year-round, and in 2025 alone, we welcomed over 400,000 guests.
‘Let us assure you that we operate with the highest standards of professionalism and service, placing hygienic-sanitary safety as our top priority.
‘Our hotels in Cape Verde follow the strictest international health and hygiene standards, certified by external prestigious consultancy firms, specialized in health and safety.
‘We reiterate that the health and well-being of our customers come first. Our commitment is to always provide maximum safety and high-quality service to provide an enjoyable holiday experience for everyone.’
Responding to Helen Wardle’s claims about her care in Clinitur, the clinic said: ‘As a private health clinic, Clinitur Lda provides the general public with health services that are distinguished by the care, monitoring and treatment of patients with dedication, care, rigor and professionalism.
‘Clinitur Lda provides health services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, at its headquarters in the city of Santa Maria to the general public.
‘Clinitur Lda’s facilities scrupulously comply with all national health sector standards, guidelines and procedures, and Clinitur Lda priorities and ensures the healthiness of its facilities, as well as their correct sanitation.
‘Furthermore, as Clinitur Lda is duly licensed to operate as a medical clinic in Cape Verde, the medical, hospital and administrative procedures and protocols adopted are in line with the directives and procedures established by the Cape Verdean Ministry of Health.
‘Finally, with regard to the case reported concerning Ms., Helen Wardle, it should be noted that Clinitur Lda is bound by a duty of confidentiality, professional secrecy and medical ethics towards its patients; therefore, Clinitur Lda is legally prevented from making statements relating to its patients.
‘Clinitur Lda is fully committed to valuing its patients, in pursuit of excellent healthcare services.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.