Two hundred people battle salmonella as hotel becomes centre of horror outbreak

Hundreds of hotel guests have been left feeling nauseous, unwell or even worse after the outbreak at a popular Spanish resort, with dozens needing hospital treatment

Two hundred people have been struck down following a salmonella outbreak in Spain. Dozens have needed to be taken to hospital, as the hotel has apologised for causing the mass illness.

A total of 190 cases of the virus have been recorded at the hotel, which is located in the Murcia region in the south of the country. This figure is now double that had been originally estimated by healthcare workers and medical staff.

It is believed that the outbreak of the disease came after contaminated food was served to guests at the Izan Cavanna hotel on the La Manga peninsula. Since then, the four-star resort has become a hotbed of illness, requiring several people to be treated for the disease in hospital.

The Sun reported that holidaymakers began to feel queasy and unwell on Saturday afternoon (August 23), with many coming down with fevers. Some guests’ conditions began to worsen further, with some feeling nauseous and even vomiting profusely.

In order to deal with the chaotic rise in cases of the disease, medics had to open an emergency field hospital nearby to deal with the number of those affected. Now, health officials in the region say that their initial estimate of 100 victims has risen to 190, with 19 of these currently in hospital.

Local health chiefs have been briefing the media in reports provided from the disease centre looking into the outbreak. There, the epidemiology department found that the patients were still being treated at the Santa Lucía hospital – though, some of those included in these numbers may now be discharged.

Meanwhile, Murcia’s regional health ministry is continuing to look into how the outbreak came about. Initial investigations into where the disease may have started have pointed to a potential cross-contamination of food at the hotel.

In their report, they found that bacteria had been found in food that was served to hotel guests on Saturday, as well as on staff who had been handling various products that day. The hotel is now facing the prospect of sanctions from the local public health department as a result of the outbreak.

In a statement released on Wednesday (August 27), the hotel said it had “not received any notification regarding the opening of a disciplinary procedure, nor has the origin or cause of the outbreak been officially confirmed”. The hotel added it was “fully aware of the situation and is actively collaborating with the competent authorities to clarify it”.

Salmonella is a potentially lethal virus that can emerge as a result of improperly cooked food. Different people can have different reactions to the disease itself, but many symptoms of salmonella often include fever, vomiting and diarrhoea.

Those who contract salmonella may not show symptoms straight away after ingesting the virus, as signs of the disease usually present themselves anywhere between six hours and six days after the infection. Once infected, the patient will suffer the symptoms for between four and seven days, should they not need to go to the hospital.

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