Africa-Press – Cape verde. National authorities today assured that there are “strict standards” of hygiene and food safety in tourist establishments, refuting testimonies and allegations that almost a thousand British visitors have contracted gastrointestinal infections in the country.
In a news story published since Sunday by several Internet portals, a British law firm indicates that almost a thousand tourists from the United Kingdom have fallen ill after traveling to Cape Verde in the last three years (including in 2024) and that they are suing tour operators after allegedly contracting infections such as Shigella and Salmonella.
“The news reported does not correspond to the reality of the facts ascertained by the Cape Verdean authorities”, reads a statement, which describes the country as “a reference tourist destination, where food safety and protecting the health of visitors are absolute priorities”.
The joint statement was signed by the General Inspectorate of Economic Activities, the Independent Health Regulatory Authority, the National Institute of Public Health and the Cape Verde Tourism Institute.
Although there are “international reports of Shigella cases among tourists who visited Sal Island, no evidence has been found to directly link these cases to conditions in Cape Verde,” a country that “is governed by strict international standards of hygiene and food safety, with regular audits by independent entities,” the authorities said. The statement details that in December 2022, two independent investigations were carried out, following rumours of a possible increase in cases of diarrhoea on Sal Island, the archipelago’s main tourist destination. Neither investigation “confirmed an outbreak or an abnormal increase in cases that would justify concern,” it added. In March 2023, there was a new investigation, led by a multidisciplinary team that carried out 84 laboratory tests on people responsible for handling food in hotels and other tourist establishments “and the results were all negative for Salmonella and Shigella”. “In addition, more than 2,000 health cards were updated or issued by the Sal Health Department, ensuring that food handlers complied with all health standards,” the same document reads.
The statement states that the results of the investigations “did not reveal any evidence of a Shigella outbreak in the hotels of Santa Maria [Sal Island] during the period from September 2022 to March 2023.”
“Any allegation of food poisoning must be analyzed based on concrete and duly verified evidence, which has not been the case to date,” the joint statement adds.
The authorities admit that, “as in any tourist destination, the possibility of gastrointestinal diseases occurring exists, but in Cape Verde, this probability is minimized” thanks to a “rigorous control system and commitment to good practices.”
The article about the legal proceedings initiated by the British law firm Irwin Mitchell, with testimonies from several tourists, was replicated by various media outlets on the Internet, including in Cape Verde, and shared on social media.
“The numbers involved show that these are not isolated incidents. The fact that a significant number [of people] are still coming to us with similar reports points to a worrying picture of ongoing disease that shows no signs of ending,” said lawyer Jatinder Paul on the firm’s website.
The firm has conducted similar proceedings in other destinations and has published an annual list indicating the worst places to spend a holiday, based on the complaints it receives.
The tourism sector is the driving force behind the national economy, which in 2023 broke the record of one million guests and aims to surpass 1.2 million this year.
The United Kingdom remains the largest market, accounting for around a third of visitors.
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