former British hotel owner who retired to Spain with her husband has died after contracting a deadly disease from a sandfly.

Susan Hughes, 67, from Enfield, in North London, moved to Malaga in 2004 with her husband Tony to enjoy an early retirement after running a hotel in North Wales.

But in August this year the mother-of-two contracted black fever - a rare parasitic disease, after she was bitten by a sandfly.


Susan Hughes, 67, had retired to Malaga with her husband Tony when she suddenly fell ill. Mrs Hughes was taken to a nearby hospital where doctors couldn't diagnose her condition and put her in isolation

'She felt very ill so we went to see her local GP,' Mr Hughes said.

'Her temperature was very high and we knew something was wrong.'

Mrs Hughes was rushed to A&E at Velez Malaga hospital where doctors couldn't diagnose her condition and put her in isolation.

Blood samples were then sent to Barcelona. When they were returned a week later they revealed that Mrs Hughes had visceral leishmaniasis or black fever.

'They knew what they were up against after that,' said Mr Hughes.



WHAT IS BLACK FEVER?

Black fever is a common killer in the Indian subcontinent, which accounts for more than 90 per cent of cases.

It can also occur in southern Europe although there are only a handful of cases each year and few fatalities.



Deadly: It is the female sandfly which transmits the bacterial infection between hosts

It is usually transmitted through the bite of female sandflies with symptoms typically emerging a few weeks afterwards. These include fatigue, weight-loss and fever followed by an outbreak skin sores.

There are no vaccines or drugs to prevent infection, but treatments include the anti-fungal drug Amphotericin B. The disease if fatal if untreated and those with suppressed immune systems are most at risk.


She was given a blood transfusion because the parasite had got into her blood, but doctors were unable to save her. She died on September 11, leaving her husband and a son and daughter from a previous marriage.

Mrs Hughes had a compromised immune system because she was taking anti-rejection drugs for a liver transplant she received in 1983.

'They tried everything but she couldn’t fight it because her immune system was low,' Mr Hughes said.

Over the last few days she developed black blotches on her arms and chest and scabs on the roof of her mouth – typical symptoms of the deadly disease.

'She was delirious towards the end because her temperature was over 40. The doctors said she died of septicaemia in the end,' said Mr Hughes.

Doctors said it was likely the sandfly picked up the disease from an infected dog, although tests from the couple's pet came back negative.

The couple, who had run a hotel together in Llandudno, had lived in a caravan for their first two years in Spain while their dream home was being built in Malaga.

'It’s just a shame we came to Spain for a good life, and yet if we’d stayed in the UK she’d have still been alive,' said Mr Hughes.

'She did have a chance to enjoy it and we had a good life together. It’s just a shame it was so short.'

Mr Hughes met his wife in Wolverhampton in 1983, just months before she had the liver operation that was to grant her 28 extra years of life.

At 39, she’d been given just six weeks to live but was handed a second chance through the transplant.

'I thought she had a very good suntan, but she was actually jaundiced because of the cirrhosis,' said Mr Hughes.

After the operation the couple had a happy life together, running a hotel for many years before their retirement.