Travel warning: Turkey hit with rapidly spreading serious illness

Holidaymakers travelling to Turkey in the final few weeks of the summer have received a health warning.

This comes after an outbreak of a serious illness that the UK tourists are bringing from Turkey, but the disease is yet to be traced, reported WalesOnline.

After nearly 250 cases of gastrointestinal illness were found by the UK's National Health Service (NHS), the authorities began an official investigation to find out more about it, according to Lancs Live. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said it had detected clusters of the Salmonella Enteritidis strain, which could be the common source of infection. But there is no confirmation about it as yet.

Affected people are tourists from Turkey

The latest reported cases are believed to be among people who had gone to Turkey on a vacation. The majority of the holidaymakers had stayed in hotels in the Antalya region of Turkey and had contracted severe infections.

The investigation that is currently underway has found that many of the people had opted for an all-inclusive package for their Turkey holiday and in their respective hotels, food was laid out for everyone in buffets. In a new update from the UKHSA, since the exact source is not confirmed yet, authorities are unable to find a solution for it and therefore, holidaymakers heading to Turkey are being urged to take extra care.

Simple steps to reduce risk of contracting the illness

In order to reduce the risk of contracting gastrointestinal infections, the UKHSA has reminded people travelling abroad about simple steps including washing hands thoroughly, especially after using the toilet and before preparing or eating food.

It is understood that 56% of cases in the clusters are male with an average age of 29.

The UKHSA managed to get full detailed travel information for 93 of the registered cases and said they "report staying in a number of different hotels in Turkey and most cases report eating a wide variety of different foods within their hotel resort as part of an all-inclusive holiday package."

The Salmonella infection can have severe consequences. Some of its symptoms include fever, abdominal pain (stomach cramps), diarrhoea, nausea, sometimes with vomiting. While in most cases, people get better after a week or so, in cases involving children, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems, the situation can get more serious.

It was earlier reported that people heading to Spain have also been warned about a serious illness that could turn fatal in some cases. The Spanish authorities have warned everyone about mpox (monkeypox) after half a dozen cases were detected in Barcelona over the past two months.