Dozens of Brits holidaying in Mexico have caught a serious stomach illness that triggers explosive diarrhoea, health officials warned today.

At least 74 people are known to have fallen ill with cyclosporiasis since May, with more than half of these having returned from the country. 

Most were traced back to all-inclusive hotels in the Riviera Maya and Cancún regions, where thousands of Brits flock to every year.

The unpleasant illness, which can also cause stomach cramps and flatulence, is caused by consuming food or drink contaminated with cyclospora, a microscopic parasite. 

The sickness can last for more than a month but most cases resolve within a few days.

Although usually mild, it can be life-threatening in immunocompromised patients. 

UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) officials revealed all 74 cases seen in the past three months were reported in England, Scotland and Wales. 

Just over half of were female, with the average age of patients being 44. Travel information was known in 52 of the cases. 

Forty-eight had been to Mexico. Of them, 42 stayed in different hotels in the Riviera Maya and Cancún regions, on the Caribbean coastline.

Most reported eating a wide variety of different food and drink within their hotel as part of an all-inclusive holiday package, UKHSA chiefs said. 

Cyclospora most often occurs in tropical and subtropical regions of the world including South and Central America, South and South East Asia, the Middle East and Africa. 

Seasonal outbreaks of cyclosporiasis in UK travellers returning from Mexico have been reported annually since 2015 — excluding 2020 and 2021 — with the number of cases fluctuating each year.

Some 79 instances were recorded in the first year, with this rising to 359 in 2016. Last year, just 36 cases were logged. 

More than half a million Brits travel to the country every year.  

Health officials warned those travelling to Mexico today to maintain good food and water hygiene at all times even if staying in high-end all-inclusive resorts.

They advised tourists choose freshly prepared food that is thoroughly cooked and served piping hot. 

Certain foods, including fresh uncooked berries and herbs, unpeeled fruit and salad items should be avoided, as these can be difficult to clean, they noted. 

The stomach infection is diagnosed by testing of stool samples, and although most cases resolve on their own, antibiotics can be given to treat severe or prolonged infections. 

It comes after one family launched legal action against holiday giant TUI last year after they were struck down with the illness during their five-star luxury break to Mexico.

They reported seeing flies, cats, birds and raccoons around the food, some of which was not chilled and was served with dirty cutlery.

The family also claimed they were bed-bound for three days and still suffered symptoms following their return to the UK.

Haleon shrugged off the cost of living crisis yesterday as the painkiller seller reaped the rewards of a flu outbreak at the start of the summer.

It said its annual sales would now be better than previously hoped thanks to shoppers swallowing 7.5 per cent price increases and sticking with the Sensodyne and Panadol maker.

Sales were helped by the easing of Covid curbs in China, which boosted demand for its medications, while a flu outbreak this spring saw consumers scramble to stock up on medication.

As a result the FTSE 100 company, which was split off from pharma giant GSK last July, said revenue increased 10.4 per cent to £5.7billion for the first half of 2023.

Haleon, which celebrated its first anniversary on the London Stock Exchange last month, also posted a profits increase of 8.9 per cent to £1.3billion, compared to the first half of 2022. 

‘One year from listing, we are very pleased with Haleon’s first half results,’ chief executive Brian McNamara said. 

But shares in Haleon were dented 2.53 per cent, or 8.35p, trading at 321.7p yesterday.

Investors were discouraged after the firm said its operating margin had shrunk in the first half due to painful inflationary pressures.

McNamara warned ‘we continue to expect a challenging environment given further pressure on consumer spending and global geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainties’. 

The FTSE 100 plunged in opening exchanges yesterday after the market was spooked by a credit rating downgrade from top US agency Fitch. London’s blue chip index sank 1.36 per cent, or 104.64 points, to 7561.63.

But Smurfit shares were a rare bright spot despite the packaging giant having posted shrinking sales. 

Demand for cardboard boxes had folded after the highs of a pandemic boom and hesitation amid the global economic downturn, causing a 9 per cent drop in sales.

But chief executive Tony Smurfit reassured investors, saying that when demand does return, the company would consider putting up the prices of boxes.

The company was established as a box-maker in Dublin in 1934 and was acquired by Mr Jefferson Smurfit four years later, trading afterwards as Jefferson Smurfit. It was listed on the Irish Stock Exchange in 1964.

Jefferson Smurfit grew under the leadership of the founder’s son, Sir Michael Smurfit, who became chief executive in 1974. His son Tony is the current chief executive. Shares were up 1.83 per cent, or 56p, to 3116p yesterday.

Elsewhere Ferrexpo shares dipped 6.26 per cent, or 5.8p, to 86.9p after the mining company posted falling half-year profits.

It said operations in Ukraine were still being affected by the ongoing war, with revenues dropping 64 per cent to £262million.

Convatec, which sells medical bandages and catheters, posted booming profits over the first six months of the year, sending shares up 6.32 per cent, or 13p, to 218.8p.

The Reading-based company also hiked its full-year guidance.

Investors cheered the news that oil engineering firm John Wood and Shell have inked a three-year contract. It means the former will support Shell’s greenfield and brownfield projects. Shares in John Wood were up 1.39 per cent, or 2.1p, to 153.3p.

Halfords shares crashed after there were warnings that its earnings per share has shrunk at 11pc a year over the past five years.

Analysts warned this could suggest the business is having a hard time and thus limit its capability to pay a bigger dividend per year in the future.

But there was some short-term good news for investors as it said it would pay its dividend of £0.07 on September 15, a higher payment than last year. 

Shares were down 5.89 per cent, or 12.8p, at 204.4p.

US health bosses are calling for a deadly fungal outbreak linked to cut-price plastic surgeries in Mexico to be declared an international health emergency.

So far, two Texan patients have died from the fungal brain infection, which doctors believe was contracted from unsterilized equipment south of the border after they had the discounted plastic surgeries.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is monitoring the condition of 195 more people who were given epidural anesthesia (injection into the spine to numb part of the body) during plastic surgeries carried out since January.

But hundreds more may have been affected due to Mexico’s booming medical tourism industry, which sees around 1.2million Americans travel south for affordable care each year, and an even greater number of international patients.

The CDC and its equivalent in Mexico have asked the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare the situation a health emergency, which could see the global agency deploy resources to track and isolate cases, quarantine contacts and screen passengers at the border.

Recruiters lured hundreds of patients from across the world and 24 US states to the River Side Surgical Center and Clinica K-3 in Mexico, both of which have now been closed, for procedures like liposuction, breast augmentation or Brazilian butt lifts.

Fourteen of the cases are suspected fungal meningitis — infections of the brain and spinal cord — and 11 are probable.

The patients reported symptoms including headaches, fever, stiff neck, nausea, vomiting, confusion, and sensitivity to light.

The infection causes swelling of the protective lining around the brain and spinal cord, known as the meninges.

Once symptoms kick in, meningitis can rapidly become life-threatening, warned the CDC.

Test results from Mexican authorities have set off worries that a deadly fungal outbreak connected to clinics elsewhere in Mexico which happened earlier in the year will be repeated. Almost half of all patients diagnosed with meningitis died in that outbreak.

A WHO committee would need to be set up to potentially declare a public health emergency of international concern.

This occurs if the event is unusual, has a significant public health impact and poses a risk of international spread and travel restrictions.

If declared, the Director-General issues a set of recommendations to countries, which could include increased surveillance to identify new cases, isolation of cases and quarantining of contacts, and measures at borders, airports, ports or points of entry for screening.

The CDC urged anyone with a treatment booked in Matamoros that involved an epidural injection to cancel the procedure.

The agency added that those who got treatment there since January should watch for warning signs of meningitis.

All but 17 of the people being monitored by the CDC are living in Texas, and the majority are female.

One of the two patients who died was also an organ donor, putting five different recipients around the country at risk.

The CDC’s Dallas Smith told a webinar Friday hosted by the Mycoses Study Group: ‘All have been notified and are under evaluation, and we were working with transplant centers and other partners to properly manage these patients who had these organs transplanted into their bodies.’

It is unclear what type of fungus patients are infected with, but testing in Mexico has shown positive results for a fungus called Fusarium solani in samples of spinal cord fluid.

This fungus caused a deadly outbreak also linked to plastic surgeries last year in the Mexican state of Durango.

Dr Smith said: ‘We are not sure if these two outbreaks are linked, but the fact that the same organism is most likely causing this fungal meningitis makes us worried about a high mortality rate. 

‘So that’s why it’s so important to get patients in early, even if they’re asymptomatic.’

Medication given to patients during an epidural may have been contaminated, or in other drugs such as morphine. 

Dr Smith added: ‘There’s a shortage currently in Mexico, and there could be potential for a black market that could have contaminated medicine.’

Another explanation could be possible poor infection control practices at the clinics.

A total of 221 US patients who visited clinics are at risk, health authorities in Mexico said.

Officials are trying to contact anyone who has visited the clinics since January to urge them to get tested, saying it can take more than six weeks for symptoms to appear.

All the patients had gone for cosmetic surgeries including liposuction, where fat is removed from areas of the body, between January and May 13.