09/02/10, 01:19:45 EST

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Stomach bug wipes out tourists in Caribbean

timesonline.co.uk

Up to 200 holidaymakers have fallen ill at a four-star hotel in the Dominican Republic.

Reports suggest that the stomach bug has affected between 100 and 200 guests at the Bahia Principe San Juan Hotel since the weekend, with symptoms of diarrhoea and vomiting that last between 24 to 48 hours.

The Caribbean country is a popular with British holidaymakers on all inclusive package holidays, and receives around 280,000 Britons each year. It was plagued with bad press over stomach bug outbreaks in 1990s, but outbreaks have been less common in recent years.

It remains unclear what has caused the outbreak, although a spokesman for the Ministry of Tourism in the Dominican Republic says early findings from the team of hygiene inspectors, in collaboration with the Federation of Tour Operators, suggests the outbreak is not related to food hygiene. The full details of their findings will be released later today.

The hotel is on the north coast of the Dominican Republic, the area that is most popular with British holidaymakers. The Baha Principe group has seven other properties on the island and also owns hotels in Mexico, Jamaica and Tenerife.

Until the bug has been contained and the cause identified, no new British guests are being checked in. Britain's four largest tour operators: First Choice, Thomson, Thomas Cook and MyTravel, have confirmed that they will not send guests to the Bahia Principe for the next few days at least.

Those holidaymakers with bookings for the hotel in the next week should contact their tour operator to arrange alternative accommodation. For anyone who is travelling to other properties in the Dominican Republic, normal booking conditions apply, which almost certainly means that the deposit or in some cases, the full cost of the holiday is lost if the holidaymaker wishes to cancel.

 Printable Version  | published Aug 08, 2007