Kiwis have come forward with stories of severe illness during stays at Warwick Resort in Fiji and a potential methanol poisoning at a nearby resort following news of alcohol poisoning.
Seven people were hospitalised in critical condition on Saturday night after a suspected incident of alcohol poisoning at Warwick Fiji. The individuals, aged 18 to 56, were taken to hospital with nausea, vomiting, and neurological symptoms after consuming pina coladas at an event. The Fiji Government has described the event as an “extremely isolated incident” at a resort with a “strong reputation”. Two of the seven people remain in hospital.
Several Kiwis have since claimed they experienced severe illness at the five-star resort, while another shared details of what she suspects was methanol poisoning at a nearby hotel.
Sheryn Thornton heard the news of the alcohol poisoning, she also recalled falling severely ill after a seven-night stay at the hotel in October.
“Just as soon as I saw Warwick I thought, ‘Oh, God’,” she said, adding she visited with her partner and had a cocktail each day of the trip. Instead of alcohol poisoning, Thornton later discovered she had contracted E. coli.
“We flew back home on the Saturday and I started to get sick on the Sunday,” she said. After experiencing “severe diarrhoea”, she went to the doctor for testing, which came back positive for E. coli.
“It was very severe for 10 days,” she said, adding that they never confirmed what caused it but assumed it was contaminated water. Thornton said she would never return to Warwick Fiji and was put off visiting Fiji again.
Warwick Fiji told the Herald it was “aware of the recent news regarding suspected alcohol poisoning” and was taking the matter seriously. It is yet to respond to allegations from Kiwis about falling ill at the resort.
Kiwi’s life ‘decimated’ after sickness in Fiji
Catherine also fell ill while in Warwick Fiji during a three-night stay to celebrate her birthday in August 2022. But instead of 10 days, she claims symptoms have persisted for two years.
On the final night of her solo trip, Catherine met a couple from the same New Zealand town as hers.
“I ended up going and having dinner with them and then we had a drink in the upstairs bar and said goodbye,” she said. The next morning, she woke up with severe diarrhoea and vomiting and later learned the woman was experiencing similar at the airport as the couple flew home.
Once they returned home, the man started feeling unwell and went to hospital, said Catherine, who then lost touch with the couple. Catherine contacted Warwick Fiji but claims she was told the hotel could not address food poisoning claims unless a doctor assesses the guest while still in Fiji. “They just brushed me off,” she said, adding that she assumed she wouldn’t get sick at a five-star resort.
Similar to Thornton, Catherine suspected the issue was water contamination but instead of 10 days, she said severe gastrointestinal issues persisted for two years.
“I’m only just starting to recover now, so, you know, it was really, really serious,” she said, adding that she was eventually diagnosed with Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO) induced by food poisoning, which she had for the first time in Fiji.
“It just decimated my life actually,” Catherine said of the experience. “I have no intention of ever going back to Fiji because of it”.
Travellers urged to be wary of possible methanol poisoning
Casey Rose said she experienced something much closer to the alcohol poisoning incident during a stay at a hotel along the coast from Warwick Fiji.
Rose, her husband and their children were visiting Fiji for a wedding in June when she experienced what she suspects was methanol poisoning. The incident occurred after Rose grabbed a drink from the poolside bar at 2pm shortly after arriving at the hotel.
“I got a frozen margarita and sat down and I was just like, ‘Whoa, this is very strong’,” she recalled. Passing it to her friends, they agreed it was extremely strong and overheard two European girls ditch their cocktails as they couldn’t drink them.
Despite smelling like “rocket fuel”, she assumed it was just strong and diluted it with a can of lemonade before leaving it unfinished. About eight hours later, after drinking another soda and water, Casey returned to the room and became violently ill.
“I managed to crawl on hands and knees and I was just vomiting,” she said, adding that she assumed it was from contaminated water.
“I was so ridiculously dizzy, like as soon as I lay down, I felt drunk,” she said, despite not finishing her one drink. At the wedding the next day, guests suggested it could have been methanol poisoning. As someone who hadn’t travelled a lot, Rose said she never would have considered the possibility and said Kiwis should be more aware
“I think it needs to be brought to attention because you don’t want to see people hospitalised to the point where they could be dying,” she said.
Fiji Government addresses fear about spiked drinks
The Fiji Government shared an update to Facebook on Monday afternoon stressing the event was “a very isolated incident”.
“Thousands of tourists are currently visiting Fiji, and close to a million tourists visit annually, and safely. This is the only reported case of its kind that we’ve experienced in recent memory, and certainly nothing like this has been experienced this year.”
Warwick Fiji claims no signs suggest drinks were tampered with and the resort is fully cooperating with an investigation, the government stated.
“The resort management has assured us that they have not engaged in practices such as substituting ingredients or altering the quality of drinks served to guests,” it stated.
“While we understand the concern, we want to emphasise that the tourism experience in Fiji is typically very safe, and we have acted immediately to try and discover the cause of what made these guests, at this resort, fall ill.”
Kiwis speculate about contaminated water
On Facebook, several Kiwis questioned whether the illness was caused by consuming ice made with contaminated water, rather than alcohol poisoning.
One Kiwi woman said her family recently experienced “the worst case of diarrhoea and vomiting” during a stay at Warwick Fiji, which they deduced was caused by ice.
“There were five of us and we all had ice in our drinks [three children] the only thing we all ate/drank that we could think of was, ice. We all ate different food therefore with the method of deduction, put it down to the ice.”
Not all Kiwis recall poor experiences when staying in Warwick Fiji. One Kiwi who visited in November said they “drank a lot of cocktails” at the “lovely resort” and experienced no issues.
One man said he consumed “a number of cocktails” at the resort during an extended family trip a few years ago and experienced no symptoms.
MFAT updates travel advisory for Kiwis in Fiji
New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) has updated its travel advisory for Fiji.
“We have reviewed our travel advice for Fiji and it has been updated this morning to reflect the risks around drink spiking and methanol poisoning,” read a statement from an MFAT spokesperson.
MFAT said 97 Kiwis are registered as being in Fiji on SafeTravel but more or fewer could be there.
MFAT’s SafeTravel website advises Kiwis in Fiji that medical services can be limited.
“We advise New Zealanders travelling or living in Fiji to have a comprehensive travel insurance policy in place that includes provision for medical evacuation by air,” it states.
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