A 10th American has died while vacationing in the Dominican Republic

[brooklynite]

Source: CNN

A man from New York died while vacationing in the Dominican Republic earlier this month, according to a US State Department official, making him the 10th American tourist to have died during or after their stay in the Caribbean nation.

The official confirmed the death in response to questions from CNN about media reports regarding the man, whose family said he suddenly became ill and died last Monday.

The State Department official did not offer details on the man's identity or cause of death, but a family member identified him as Vittorio Caruso, 56, of Glen Cove, Long Island, according to CNN affiliate News 12 Long Island.

Caruso's sister-in-law, Lisa Maria Caruso, told News 12 Long Island that Vittorio Caruso died after suffering respiratory distress and possibly a heart attack while on vacation.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/23/world/tenth-american-death-dominican-republic/index.html

[Ilsa]

1. Did the cdc ever figure out what virus the

Texas couple got in Fiji that killed them? They had a young son.

[emmaverybo]

5. They ruled out flu and infectious diseases. Still, investigating. Symptoms diarrhea, vomiting,

and hands going numb.

[canucksawbones]

22. ciguetera toxin would be one agent to cause this

ciguetera toxin occurs in some 400 different tropical fish that feed on an organism in fairly shallow tropical waters, happens at certain times of the year and causes myalgias, diarrhea, vomiting and distal neuropathies (hand and foot numbness) it can be fatal in the first 24 hours due to respiratory arrest, bradycardias, convulsions with coma. In the long term it resolves, but neuropathy can last for months

[emmaverybo]

25. Interesting possibility.

[LuvLoogie]

2. If it is only american tourists dying, then I would suspect targeted serial killings.

Either economically or politically motivated.

[displacedtexan]

3. Exactly! It would be easy to poison hotel water bottles, mini bar alcohol, etc.

And no one really pays attention to maintenance workers or other random hotel staff.

[oldsoftie]

7. Speaking of maintenance workers; this story from May 29th of a woman beaten for 4 hrs:

https://www.facebook.com/tammy.lawrencedaley/posts/10219329938422928

And a man who said he was assaulted at the same resort as she was:
https://www.wpxi.com/news/top-stories/dominican-republic-local-man-beaten-nearly-robbed-at-resort-in-dominican-republic/959958648

[oldsoftie]

4. Thats true; havent heard of other nationalities dying. I wonder. Either way, I'm not going!

[Igel]

13. We haven't heard of them.

Then again, there's a bias in reporting. If another German or Russian or Chinese national had died, one of a series, US media wouldn't take notice.

It's something to be considered, but there's no evidence either way.

[customerserviceguy]

26. I'm surprised

that anyone's still going there.

[emmaverybo]

6. What would be the political or economic benefit and who would benefit? NT

[JI7]

8. could be political reasons and grudge against the US.

[LuvLoogie]

9. It doesn't have to be a calculated benefit. It could be Anti-American anger or a Anti-$ anger.

You used to be a fisherman making a decent living for yourself, but you can no longer have access to your fishing grounds, because it is all privately-owned resorts. You now have to work at one of those hotels where you find the American tourists treat you like shit.

Maybe it's a resort security company or rival resort chain trying to chum for business.

The FBI is there now. Maybe it's a pretext for further action that can over-ride normal diplomatic and economic channels.

[emmaverybo]

10. OK. So could be like the Tylenol murderer.

[oldsoftie]

16. Yep. There are whack jobs in every country!

[displacedtexan]

11. Police would probably be pressured to solve crimes against locals.

It's much easier to claim you tried to solve a crime against a foreigner and just had no leads to follow.

I read that the FBI was going there to investigate. I hope they get cooperation.

[customerserviceguy]

27. I hope they have

their own food and drink.

[IronLionZion]

14. Online search looks like only Americans, probably targeted by poison

FBI is investigating with local authorities. It happened in several different locations, some with bottled minibar drinks.

The motivation is probably to hurt their tourism industry, and specifically Americans. American tourists have many alternatives so I'm sure travel to DR is going to be down for a long time.

[Blue_Tires]

28. Who would be stupid enough to do that?

American tourists alone are pumping billions into their economy every year?

[LuvLoogie]

29. Let me paint a picture for you.

Your way of life was great before the booming tourism. The tourism ruined your way of life, and now you have to work in the tourism industry because the industry made you poor. The American president refers to your beloved land as a shithole country and the American tourists treat you like shit.

Maybe you were a farmer or a fisherman, or had a few seaside huts you would rent to the adventure traveler. The government pushed you out because the fat cats started setting up shop.

It could be a sociopath; it could be an extremely disgruntled worker. I don't think smart or stupid has anything to do with it. It is irrational.

[Fritz Walter]

12. Clearly, John Bolton should personally investigate this clear and present danger to US citizens

As in go down there and personally inspect the facilities, drink the water, eat the food, get to know the staff at these resorts. Take as long a necessary. We'll keep a close watch on things back here. And elsewhere.

[IronLionZion]

15. Bolton would conclude Iran was behind it and then go to war

[Sgent]

17. I think we are seeing

Legionnaires' disease. All the symptoms fit -- especially the pulmonary edema (which can cause heart attack) on autopsy which has been found in every case I've seen reported on.

The sad thing is its fairly easily treated in the outpatient setting but it may be way down on the list of things you think about unless you internalize the fact that the patient was in an improperly serviced hot tub or pool.

[mn9driver]

18. On average, about 50 or so American tourists die in the DR every year.

I think most are drownings, accidental injuries and heart attacks, and most happen where the most tourists are; which is the Punta Cana area.

There may well be something new going on with all the speculation about bootleg alcohol, but it’s far from clear yet.

[alphafemale]

30. I was also wondering if these deaths were out of the norm of what might be expected.

There is a tendency to sensationalism in journalism every now and then.

[obamanut2012]

19. It has got to be sketchy alcohol or something

Someone getting kickbacks and selling alcohol cut with wood alcohol or something, like during Prohibition. If it was food or water, more people would have died or gotten very sick.

[alphafemale]

20. Is this statistically out of the norm compared to tourist deaths elsewhere?

Or is it this years version of Summer of the Shark or Carjacking?

[RobinA]

23. This Is My Question

on which the news is surprisingly silent. I mean, saying there are X number of deaths is meaningless without saying how many deaths one could expect. Plus, it's irresponsible considering how easy it is to depress the tourism industry.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

21. Tenth ever in all time of recorded history? Horrible writer at CNN. . . nt

[RobinA]

24. More and More

lately I'm amazed by how difficult it seems to be to write with comprehensibility. And I'm not even talking about good grammar. Just, are you writing (or saying) what you mean? Headlines are necessarily brief, but shouldn't we expect them to be somewhat coherent?