Hotel pools treated after bug strikes tourists

Swimming pools at a holiday complex were today being treated after a vicious stomach bug struck down 15 British holidaymakers.

Swimming pools at a holiday complex were today being treated after a vicious stomach bug struck down 15 British holidaymakers.

A total of 22 British tourists at the Club Aguamar complex in Majorca have been hit by the potentially fatal cryptosporidium parasite since May.

The tourists suffered cramps, diarrhoea and vomiting after catching the water-borne illness while holidaying at the resort, which costs a family of four £2,000-£2,500 for a two-week stay.

A spokesman for JMC Holidays, which is owned by Thomas Cook, said tests had failed to identify the presence of the parasite in the swimming pools.

But JMC asked the 1,600-room Club Aguamar resort to suspend use of the pools as a precautionary measure while chemical treatment and further tests were carried out, he added.

He said the 22 sick holidaymakers were a small fraction of the 4,000 who had stayed at the hotel this season and guests currently staying at the hotel have been offered use of alternative facilities.