Shigella Outbreak And Deaths Raise Alarm For British Tourists In Cape Verde

For many British families, Cape Verde has long been pitched as a sun-soaked paradise—a cheaper alternative to the Caribbean, with its endless beaches, turquoise waters, and all-inclusive resorts. But over the past year, a series of tragic events has cast a shadow over the archipelago’s booming tourism industry. Four British nationals—Elena Walsh, Karen Pooley, Mark Ashley, and David Smith—lost their lives within a three-month span after falling ill while vacationing at Riu hotels on the islands. Their deaths, set against the backdrop of a widespread shigella outbreak and mounting concerns about local healthcare standards, have sparked calls for greater scrutiny and urgent action.

Elena Walsh, a 64-year-old retiree from Birmingham, was among the first. She had flown to Cape Verde on August 1, 2022, with her husband Patrick, their son Sean, and Sean’s fiancée Gemma, eager to celebrate her impending retirement and her son’s engagement. The trip, booked as a £5,000 Tui package holiday, was meant to be a joyous family milestone. But within days of arriving, Walsh contracted what seemed like a routine stomach bug. The pain intensified, and she was rushed to the local Clinitur clinic, one of only two private clinics recommended by the UK Foreign Office.

Doctors there suspected appendicitis and prepared her for surgery. Outside the operating theatre, Patrick heard his wife’s desperate cries—"you’re hurting me, you’re hurting me"—her last words before she lost consciousness. A post-mortem in the UK later revealed that Walsh’s appendix was healthy; her death was attributed to heart failure, with gastroenteritis listed as a secondary cause. Her grieving husband recalled the ordeal: “The last of her,” he said, breaking down in tears, as reported by The Sunday Times.

Walsh’s story, devastating as it is, was not an isolated incident. In the months that followed, three more Britons—Karen Pooley, 64, Mark Ashley, 55, and David Smith, 54—fell seriously ill at Riu hotels and ultimately died after receiving what their families described as inadequate medical care. Each had manageable pre-existing conditions, and all fell ill amidst a broader surge in gastrointestinal illnesses on the islands.

The situation reached a tipping point in late 2022, when health agencies across Europe began to notice a spike in shigella infections—a highly contagious bacterial illness that causes severe diarrhoea, fever, and stomach cramps. According to the UK Health Security Agency, 137 cases were recorded between October and December 2022, with 80% of patients having recently returned from Cape Verde. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) reported similar increases in shigella cases from Sweden, Ireland, France, and the Netherlands, all linked to recent travel to the islands.

Jess Richards, a 31-year-old newlywed, was among those affected. She fell violently ill during her honeymoon at the Riu Palace Santa Maria in October 2022 and later tested positive for shigella upon returning to the UK. Richards received £4,000 in damages from Tui, though the company denied liability. “I was never made aware before I went that something was going on. There was never an email. There’s nothing in the hotel,” she told The Sunday Times. Her warning to other travelers was stark: “Don’t go [to Cape Verde]. Your health and the money in your pocket is not worth ever ever putting yourself in that kind of risk.”

On December 15, 2022, the UK Foreign Office issued a formal health warning, advising travelers to Cape Verde to wash their hands frequently, eat only freshly prepared hot food, and avoid untreated water from swimming pools. The advice was especially urgent for those with ongoing health conditions, the elderly, pregnant women, and young children.

The tragedy of Jane Pressley, 62, further fueled concerns. Pressley died three weeks after returning from a stay at the Riu Palace Santa Maria in 2022. Her widower is now among 300 claimants suing Tui in the High Court, alleging the company breached its duty to provide safe food, drink, and hotel facilities. Some claimants were diagnosed with E.coli, salmonella, or shigella after their trips. Tui is contesting the allegations, arguing that gastric illness can arise from many sources unrelated to the company or its suppliers. A Riu Hotels spokeswoman stated that monthly food and staff samples in Cape Verde had never detected shigella.

But for families who lost loved ones, the issue goes beyond pathogens. Hospital conditions in Cape Verde have been described as "chaotic" and, in the words of Karen Pooley’s son James, “a war zone.” Pooley, who had cerebral palsy and was in "the shape of her life" before her trip, fractured her femur after falling ill at the Riu Funana. She languished for four days without surgery at Clinitur, despite her insurers’ efforts to arrange an evacuation. She was eventually airlifted to Tenerife, but died soon after from septic shock, heart failure, and kidney failure. "When you book a holiday, you don’t expect to go and then your friend comes home in a box," her travel companion Corinne Hibbert told The Sunday Times.

David Smith, a diabetic lawyer from Chester, experienced a similarly harrowing ordeal. After ten days of illness at the Riu Karamboa, he was rushed to Clinica Boa Esperança, where doctors diagnosed gastroenteritis and heart failure. Plans were made for an air ambulance to Tenerife, but Smith died before he could be transferred. His wife Rachel described the scene: “What [he] went through in those last few hours, and his death, that was horrendous … I will never get those images out of my head, ever.”

Mark Ashley’s case remains under investigation, with a British coroner seeking further tests. Ashley, a self-employed forklift driver and seasoned traveler, became ill at the Riu Palace Santa Maria and later died at home in the UK. His wife Emma, devastated, said: “I’ve lost the man I’ve been with for 40 years. My children have lost him. He’s never going to walk [our daughter] down the aisle, or meet his grandchildren, all because of a holiday.”

As the death toll rose, Tui and Riu Hotels expressed condolences to the families but denied liability for the illnesses and deaths. Both companies stated they are working with local authorities to improve healthcare and pest control. Riu Hotels noted that a "high-level meeting" with Cape Verdean officials in December 2022 focused on eliminating standing water and enhancing pest control to combat flies and mosquitoes.

Cape Verde’s popularity as a tourist destination has soared, with annual visitor numbers climbing from 115,000 in 2000 to 981,000 in 2024—Britons now make up over a third of all arrivals. Yet, as the islands welcome more guests, the gap between the promise of paradise and the reality of local healthcare has become impossible to ignore. The UK Foreign Office describes Cape Verde’s medical facilities as "very basic and limited," a warning echoed by the families who have suffered unimaginable loss.

For now, the tragic stories of Elena Walsh, Karen Pooley, Mark Ashley, and David Smith serve as a sobering reminder that, while holidays offer escape, they also demand vigilance—especially when the safety net of reliable healthcare is far from guaranteed.