Dominican Republic - American tourists found dead in resorts, same cause of death, 2018/2019

[Herat]

Now I wonder if there is a new insect out there. I know Hawaii recently found a new disease with rats.Rat lungworm disease: 3 new cases of potentially debilitating parasite confirmed in Hawaii

And China has found a new disease with ticks.New tick-borne disease discovered in China infecting dozens, researchers claim

I don’t think anyplace is safe. All of the tick borne illnesses in the US with the Powatassin that kills pretty fast.

Rat lungworm disease is not associated with an insect. It is a parasitic worm. It is spread from snails and slugs to rats. We only get it if we ingest raw snails or slugs that carry the parasite. It's not a new disease.

It's true no place is safe. We live in an environment full of living things, many of which are not good for our health. Many are. Bacteria in our intestines are important in processing the vitamin K complex which is a essential in regulating clotting. And yet a different bacterial infestation in the stomach is associated with ulcers and lymphomas.

We are just getting better at looking for pathogens, describing them, and communicating world-wide about their potential for harm and possible cures.

We should be very thankful for the work that all these surveillance and healthcare organizations do.

 

[Herat]

I’m just gonna stay in the house now.

Got news: There's a lot of pathogenic and toxic stuff in your house, too.

 

[Bugurl747]

Now I wonder if there is a new insect out there. I know Hawaii recently found a new disease with rats.Rat lungworm disease: 3 new cases of potentially debilitating parasite confirmed in Hawaii

And China has found a new disease with ticks.New tick-borne disease discovered in China infecting dozens, researchers claim

I don’t think anyplace is safe. All of the tick borne illnesses in the US with the Powatassin that kills pretty fast.

There is always a new insect or super bug out there but with some basic knowledge and safety measures a lot of those illnesses can be prevented. I'm not saying there isn't a concern, but we practice a lot of the basic safety measures daily by cooking our food thoroughly, washing our hands. vaccinations, access to healthcare and proper precautions if one is immunocompromised, repellent sprays, and the ability to educate ourselves at our fingertips.

Regarding rat lung disease, humans can become infected if they eat (intentionally or otherwise) a raw or under cooked infected intermediate host, thereby ingesting the parasite like many other diseases we know about.

The Powatassin virus has killed 10 people in the US in the last 10 years. Like any tick borne disease, prevention is key.

MOO

 

[Herat]

The all inclusive packages are targeted at people that are traveling on a budget.

I disagree with that comment. In my experience with world-wide travel, AI's (all-inclusives) are targeted at people that don't want to have to make choices or encounter experiences that are too different or take too much effort.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to veg out in a beautiful tropical place where you don't have to make decisions. Where you feel safe from a foreign culture, a different language, people that don't look like you. You don't have the challenge of having to interact with people you may not understand well. You are in a place where you think people understand you. Where other guests may be from different countries, but are essentially like you. Where activities are geared to what you want to do, without the hassle of always having to pull out your wallet when you want something.
It's really the cruise mentality.

Budget travel can be very much less than AI's. But it involves work in researching and living more as local people do, eating and drinking what they do. And risking that the room isn't guaranteed to have a minibar, or a view, or even electricity 24/7. Where you wake up early because that's when the roosters crow, the dogs bark, and the neighborhood wakes up to start the day. That kind of challenge doesn't appeal to everyone, or even all the time

 

[KariKae]

Another potential case...This time high school seniors. We are actually acquaintances of one of these families. So scary when it hits this close to home.

Deer Creek Graduates, Parents Dealing With Illness In Dominican Republic

 

[kay74]

Do you think it's adulterated alcohol or pesticides?

 

[kay74]

Another potential case...This time high school seniors. We are actually acquaintances of one of these families. So scary when it hits this close to home.

Deer Creek Graduates, Parents Dealing With Illness In Dominican Republic

Was it food poisoning from the places they ate at or pesticides?

 

[kay74]

With all of those hotels raking in the money, my guess is that the owners are corporations outside of DR.

Owning resorts is a money laundering thing as well as often a way of getting money.

I know where I live in a foreign tourism country with high high unemployment, the govt gives money to resort owners because jobs will be provided. They get money up front and then have to pay back the rest of the money starting in five years with a low interest loan.

Always, in five years they go bankrupt. They have paid themselves handsomely both in overcharging for materials and in managerial costs.

The same happens in the US when cities give money to companies and after a few years the company moves on to greener pastures.

The resort industry is a real money machine. And there are plenty of people who know how to run the giveaways for their benefit.

The hotels aren't doing this. It's the people there in the DR. Hard Rock Café is very popular in the US. Noone there is getting poisoned in the US.

 

[Bugurl747]

Another potential case...This time high school seniors. We are actually acquaintances of one of these families. So scary when it hits this close to home.

Deer Creek Graduates, Parents Dealing With Illness In Dominican Republic

60 people in all including parents and students went on this trip to Punta Cana.

McLaughlin says at least five members of the group became violently ill Tuesday night, after eating at a Japanese restaurant at the all-inclusive Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, which is where the group is staying.

This is the same hard rock hotel where the 2 Americans died.

MOO

 

[Momof4RN]

Another potential case...This time high school seniors. We are actually acquaintances of one of these families. So scary when it hits this close to home.

Deer Creek Graduates, Parents Dealing With Illness In Dominican Republic

So incredibly scary! Crazy that illnesses are still going on this week particularly at Hard Rock with investigations currently in progress. I would have thought everything would have been cleaned up and in best of conditions with FBI boots on the ground.
Not that it matters because kids always find a way to drink but what is the legal drinking age in DR?

 

[Inthedetails]

Has this been added to the list yet?
https://nypost.com/2019/06/15/oklah...-ill-while-vacationing-in-dominican-republic/

Snippets from the link:

"A group of Jimmy Buffett-diehards from Oklahoma were sick as hell in paradise....

'I can’t even explain how sick I was,' Flowers told Oklahoma’s News 4.

And in no time, he was wasting away, he continued. 'Lost 14 pounds during that time and was really sick.'

By the end of the vacation, 47 of the 114 Oklahomans reported becoming ill...

Everyone who got sick swam in the resort pool equipped with a swim-up bar, Flowers recalled."

 

[KariKae]

Was it food poisoning from the places they ate at or pesticides?

I asked my daughter to do a little more digging since it is an acquaintance of hers...The girl she knows was taken to the hospital in an ambulance where she stayed for five days. The hospital told them it was food poisoning but that's a long time to stay in the hospital for food poisoning. The medical professionals who cared for them in DR spoke only Spanish so it was difficult for them to ask questions and get answers.

 

[Inthedetails]

And this is why we Americans need to support funding for CDC, FDA, NIH, CMS, USDA, OSHA, EPA, NIOSH, and other such US governmental agencies that function to protect our health and well being by enforcing standards and investigating unusual circumstances or disease outbreaks.

We can't rely on other countries to be able to mount the kind of regulatory and investigative environment as we have here. You can see what happens when these kinds of programs don't exist, or are severely compromised by graft and fraud.

YES!! Regulations and enforcement of regulations cost money. Not having regulations and not having enforcement cost lives.

jmopinion

 

[cherrymeg]

I disagree with that comment. In my experience with world-wide travel, AI's (all-inclusives) are targeted at people that don't want to have to make choices or encounter experiences that are too different or take too much effort.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to veg out in a beautiful tropical place where you don't have to make decisions. Where you feel safe from a foreign culture, a different language, people that don't look like you. You don't have the challenge of having to interact with people you may not understand well. You are in a place where you think people understand you. Where other guests may be from different countries, but are essentially like you. Where activities are geared to what you want to do, without the hassle of always having to pull out your wallet when you want something.
It's really the cruise mentality.

Budget travel can be very much less than AI's. But it involves work in researching and living more as local people do, eating and drinking what they do. And risking that the room isn't guaranteed to have a minibar, or a view, or even electricity 24/7. Where you wake up early because that's when the roosters crow, the dogs bark, and the neighborhood wakes up to start the day. That kind of challenge doesn't appeal to everyone, or even all the time

Good point. I misspoke and was thinking of people that have a budget worked out so they know what they save, what they spend on things like vacations and what goes to practical things. I wasn't thinking of budget traveling that sounds like a nightmare to me lol. I also was thinking of college age kids from the US where being asked to pay upfront at a hospital might freak them out. If parents are footing the bill that would be enough to make me decide to wait it out. If you aren't sure you are dying would you want to call your parents from a foreign country and ask for money so you could go to the hospital?

 

[Inthedetails]

Has this been added to the list yet?
https://nypost.com/2019/06/15/oklah...-ill-while-vacationing-in-dominican-republic/

Snippets from the link:

"A group of Jimmy Buffett-diehards from Oklahoma were sick as hell in paradise....

'I can’t even explain how sick I was,' Flowers told Oklahoma’s News 4.

And in no time, he was wasting away, he continued. 'Lost 14 pounds during that time and was really sick.'

By the end of the vacation, 47 of the 114 Oklahomans reported becoming ill...

Everyone who got sick swam in the resort pool equipped with a swim-up bar, Flowers recalled."

Forgot to add: they were at Hotel Riu Palace Macao.

 

[KariKae]

Everyone who got sick swam in the resort pool equipped with a swim-up bar, Flowers recalled."

We were on a distillery tour a few months ago. The tour guide told us the reason it is illegal to distill your own alcohol (i.e. moonshine) is because you can kill someone if it is not done correctly. You can make your own beer and wine, but not anything distilled. Makes me wonder if someone is illegally distilling alcohol and rebottling it.

 

[diggndeeperstill]

I asked my daughter to do a little more digging since it is an acquaintance of hers...The girl she knows was taken to the hospital in an ambulance where she stayed for five days. The hospital told them it was food poisoning but that's a long time to stay in the hospital for food poisoning. The medical professionals who cared for them in DR spoke only Spanish so it was difficult for them to ask questions and get answers.

Not saying it’s from alcohol, but you should ask her if the kids drank while there. I can bet that videos of that group partying made their way around Snapchat. Not putting blame there by any means, but still wondering if it all leads back to alcohol.

 

[diggndeeperstill]

That’s what happened in Mexico.

We were on a distillery tour a few months ago. The tour guide told us the reason it is illegal to distill your own alcohol (i.e. moonshine) is because you can kill someone if it is not done correctly. You can make your own beer and wine, but not anything distilled. Makes me wonder if someone is illegally distilling alcohol and rebottling it.

And yes, an example of home made brew killing. Toxic Homemade Alcohol Kills Scores in India

 

[KariKae]

Not saying it’s from alcohol, but you should ask her if the kids drank while there. I can bet that videos of that group partying made their way around Snapchat. Not putting blame there by any means, but still wondering if it all leads back to alcohol.

Yes, they did drink while there. I know a lot of seniors go to DR for their senior trip because the drinking age is 18.

 

[diggndeeperstill]

Yes, they did drink while there. I know a lot of seniors go to DR for their senior trip because the drinking age is 18.

Yes, exactly. Sad to me that these parents went with the kids and thought drinking at 18 was ok.