Public health officials in Cape Verde have hit back at renewed claims of Shigella infections in people who had been to the country.
The law firm Irwin Mitchell is representing the relatives of six people who fell ill and died since January 2023 after traveling to Cape Verde.
The Ministry of Health of Cape Verde said the claims are “serious, disproportionate, and likely to cause unjustified alarm” about health services in the country.
The agency said the temporal coincidence between travel and illness does not constitute proof of causality. Determining a causal link requires laboratory confirmation, environmental investigation, and epidemiological analysis.
Cape Verde defends conditions
Cape Verde is one of the main destinations for British tourists, so the episodes represent a small occurrence, rather than a sustained epidemiological pattern, according to officials in Cape Verde.
Cape Verde claims to have a robust health and epidemiological surveillance system, recognized by international partners, with improvements made in the control of communicable diseases, sanitation, and food safety.
Accusations involve a private hotel chain, which the Ministry of Health said is required to comply with national regulations. The agency said its monitoring shows there is no publicly available epidemiological evidence confirming an active outbreak.
Clients of UK law firm want answers
Irwin Mitchell is representing more than 1,500 British people who have fallen ill after travel to Cape Verde since 2022. They booked through tour operator TUI.
“The number of holidaymakers to Cape Verde being struck down with serious and debilitating gastric illnesses is truly staggering," said Jatinder Paul, a lawyer at Irwin Mitchell.
“In my experience I’m used to supporting holidaymakers who have fallen ill at resorts across the globe, but I’ve never seen repeated and continued illness outbreaks at the same resorts on such a scale over such a period of time. It’s almost incomprehensible that holidaymakers continue to describe the hygiene issues at these Cape Verde hotels year-after-year.”
Shigella and Salmonella in the UK and Europe
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said 158 Shigella sonnei patients had been identified since October 2025. Of these, 118 reported international travel and 112 had been to Cape Verde. England has the most cases with 131 while Scotland has 13, and Wales has 14. Patients range in age from less than 1 to 81 with a median of 54 years old and 110 are female.
UKHSA has also noted increases in three types of Salmonella associated with travel to Cape Verde. Salmonella Virchow has sickened four people in England. Patients range in age from 21 to 59 and all are female. Three of them had been to Cape Verde before getting sick.
One Salmonella Enteritidis outbreak has 32 cases while another has seven. In the larger outbreak, 27 sick people had traveled to Cape Verde and in the second, two people had been to the country. For the other cases, travel information is not known.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said country reports show affected travelers stayed in 5-star, all-inclusive hotels in Santa Maria on the islands of Sal or Boa Vista. Illnesses were recorded in Sweden, France, and the Netherlands. Infections are primarily caused by a specific Shigella sonnei strain suggesting a common source or a persistent route of transmission.
Dr. Damien Tully, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said Shigella spreads through contact with fecal contamination, either directly from person to person or indirectly via contaminated food, water, or surfaces. Microscopic amounts of fecal material are enough to cause infection.
“Buffet-style catering can increase the risk for foodborne illness and be a breeding ground for bacteria and viruses. The key risk factors are time, temperature and touch. If food is left too long in the so-called danger zone of 5 to 60 degrees C (41 to 140 degrees F), bacteria can multiple rapidly. Improper temperature control where hot foods are not kept hot enough and cold foods not kept cold enough create thriving conditions for bacteria to grow,” he said.
“Poor hand hygiene and improper food handling can also contaminate surfaces, particularly shared serving utensils. To reduce the risks of getting sick while traveling good hygiene practices are essential. Hands should be washed thoroughly with soap and warm water, especially after using the restrooms and before eating.”
