Egypt hotel evacuees have shigella infection

British mother and daughter removed from resort confirmed to have potentially fatal shigella

Two guests evacuated from the hotel in Egypt where a British couple died last week say they have the bacterial infection shigella. The mother and her young daughter, from the North West of England – who did not want to be identified – were evacuated from the Steigenberger Aqua Magic hotel in Hurghada alongside hundreds of other guests after John and Susan Cooper from Burnley, Lancashire, died suddenly within hours of each other.

TWO guests evacuated from the hotel in Egypt where a British couple died last week say they have the bacterial infection shigella.

The mother and her young daughter, from north-west England, were evacuated from the Steigenberger Aqua Magic hotel in Hurghada alongside hundreds of other guests after John and Susan Cooper from Burnley, Lancashire, died suddenly within hours of each other.

Nick Harris, a travel lawyer who is representing several guests, said the pair were part of a family of four who do not want to be identified and who had all fallen ill on holiday.

An environmental health officer confirmed to the family that samples showed the mother and daughter were suffering from the infection, which can be food or water borne.

Shigella is a bacteria closely related to E.coli. It is a highly contagious and common cause of food poisoning which causes around 700,000 deaths a year, most in the developing world.

Symptoms can include fever, abdominal cramps and diarrhoea.

Mr Harris, from law firm Simpson Millar, told The Daily Telegraph: “This is a crucial development and may indicate pathogens were present at the property. If you have an illness problem in an all-inclusive property with several hundred guests moving around you can either close the place for a deep clean or attempt to deal with it while the guests remain in situ.

“If you believe it’s in the water, additional chlorine might be added to it in an attempt to kill the bug, so it’s important to find out things such as what the Coopers drank that evening before they collapsed. If there was a sickness bug that the hotel knew about, how did they deal with it? Were they trying to deal with it without closing the hotel?”

Many guests have reported falling ill with upset stomachs and vomiting during their holidays at the Aqua Magic this month.

Thomas Cook has commissioned its own food hygiene and air conditioning tests at the hotel, although it has not been granted access to the Coopers’ room. The results are due in the middle of next week. A spokesman insisted that the safety and well-being of customers was always its first priority, noting that the hotel was audited in July.

“We are contacting every Thomas Cook customer that has returned from staying at the hotel since Aug 22 and we have put a dedicated team together to prioritise all complaints from this hotel,” he added.

The Egyptian government yesterday said it had ordered a hygiene investigation at the hotel and pledged to “leave no stone unturned” to establish the cause of the Coopers’ deaths.

The cause of death of Mr Cooper, 69, and his wife, 63, has not yet been determined. Their bodies are due to be flown home next week following “detailed autopsies”. Kelly Ormerod, their daughter, said her parents had been “in perfect health” before going to bed but then she found them dying in their hotel room the next morning.

Egyptian authorities initially said her father had died from a heart attack and that his wife had collapsed with grief. A room inspection found no toxic or harmful gas emissions or leaks, according to Nabil Sadeq, the prosecutor.

Thomas Cook was successfully sued last month after a family of four from South Wales suffered gastric illness at the same hotel in 2016. Manchester law firm JMW Solicitors, which acted for the family, said Newport county court ordered the company to pay £26,000 in compensation and costs.