Mystery holiday bug hits 400

The couple, from Whiston, Rotherham, are now considering taking legal action against their tour operators following a two-week stay at the luxury Bahia Principe hotel in San Juan.

An investigation by Domin-ican Republic authorities points to a "non-lethal" bacteria being present in food at the hotel - leaving hundreds of holidaymakers bed-bound by sickness.

The young couple, who don't want to be named, booked the two-week break hoping for a relaxing get-away. But just a few days into the holiday they were both struck down with severe sickness and diarrhoea.

"Some days we felt fine but then the next day we would be ill again," said the 19-year-old man, who booked the break with his 17-year-old girlfriend through First Choice.

"It completely ruined the holiday as we did not know how we would feel from one day to the next. The illness was on and off but it was agony when it did strike."

They decided not to see a doctor after being told there was a $200 consultation fee and instead followed the advice of their holiday rep to take medication for the diarrhoea and drink lots of water.

But it was not until returning to the UK that they actually recovered.

"I am now awaiting some test results to confirm what caused it," said the man. "We certainly didn't make the most of the trip.

"We were told it could be something in the food so all I ate was bread - it's a long way to go to eat dry bread."

He added: "We were not the only people at the hotel who were ill. At night you could hear people getting up to be sick, it was awful.

"We are considering legal action but only if the hotel was at fault."

Sheffield law firm Irwin Mitchell say they are representing more than 400 British tourists who suffered similar symptoms while at the Bahia Principe and its sister hotel the Gran Bahia Principe.

They claim there have been similar illness outbreaks at the same hotel since 2004.

Irwin Mitchell says lab tests from some of the most recent guests reveal they were suffering from Giardia - a severe intestinal condition caused by the parasite Giardia lamblia.

Bautista Rojas, the Public Health Minister for the Dominican Republic, confirmed the presence of a "non-lethal bacteria" had been detected at the hotel, and said the outbreak of illness was "caused by the ingestion of some dressing in the hotel's food".