FCO issues alert for Mexico after rise in diarrhea bug
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has updated its advice for Mexico warning of a rise in cases of a bug caused by contaminated food or water.
Health officials in the UK have been investigating an increase in cases of Cyclospora related to holidaymakers who have recently returned from all-inclusive resorts mainly in Mexico’s Riviera Maya region.
The FCO said Public Health England advised anyone planning to travel to the Riviera Maya coast to be aware of the risk of infection following the increase in reported cases.
Between June 1 and August 5 2016, 204 confirmed and probable cases of Cyclospora have been reported in the UK.
Of those 73% (148 cases) were associated with travel to Mexico, all linked to all-inclusive resorts mainly in the Riviera Maya region.
Officials fear the figure could be higher, as 53 cases are still being investigated, not all cases are reported, and not all people with symptoms are tested.
Cyclospora cayetanensis can cause diarrhoea, fatigue, muscle pain, weight loss, abdominal cramping, nausea and fever.
PHE said: "Cases have stayed at 24 different hotels and resorts in Mexico, but predominantly on the Riviera Maya coast.
"Cases are equally distributed between males and females, and the range of ages affected is 12-76 years.
"UK public health authorities have shared information with the Mexican authorities and the travel industry to support investigations in Mexico."
The number of reported cases is rising, with only around 30 cases a year reported in the UK in recent years.
Law firm Irwin Mitchell said it is representing a family who contracted the illness on a 2016 summer holiday in Mexico. It is also working on cases from 2015.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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