A group of Jimmy Buffett-diehards from Oklahoma were sick as hell in paradise — the latest in an ever-growing list of tourists to be sickened during a jaunt to the Dominican Republic, a report said. Dana Flowers, a travel agent who vacationed to Punta Cana with the Buffett-loving Central Oklahoma Parrothead Association, said that four days into their April trip, he and other members came down with a mysterious illness. “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, Flowers said, with many of them too sick to leave their rooms at the Hotel Riu Palace Macao. Flowers said it’s unclear what caused the illnesses — Punta Cana doctors suggested a parasite might be to blame. Everyone who got sick swam in the resort pool equipped with a swim-up bar, Flowers recalled. Some of the sick Parrotheads, the nickname for fans of the “Why Don’t We Get Drunk” singer, tested positive for salmonella, according to Flowers, who said he did not. The latest report of illness comes amid a spate of unexplained deaths on the island nation since January. The death count ticked to eight on Friday, when the family of a 78-year-old Ohio man revealed he died suddenly after dinner and drinks at the Dreams Punta Cana Resort & Spa. Authorities are eyeing bootleg liquor from hotel minibars as the potential killer, sources have told The Post. “I will not be going back to the Dominican any time soon,” Flowers said.
Oklahoma Jimmy Buffett fans mysteriously fall ill while vacationing in Dominican Republic
A group of Jimmy Buffett-diehards from Oklahoma were sick as hell in paradise — the latest in an ever-growing list of tourists to be sickened during a jaunt to the Dominican Republic, a report said. Dana Flowers, a travel agent who vacationed to Punta Cana with the Buffett-loving Central Oklahoma Parrothead Association, said that four days into their April trip, he and other members came down with a mysterious illness. “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, Flowers said, with many of them too sick to leave their rooms at the Hotel Riu Palace Macao. Flowers said it’s unclear what caused the illnesses — Punta Cana doctors suggested a parasite might be to blame. Everyone who got sick swam in the resort pool equipped with a swim-up bar, Flowers recalled. Some of the sick Parrotheads, the nickname for fans of the “Why Don’t We Get Drunk” singer, tested positive for salmonella, according to Flowers, who said he did not. The latest report of illness comes amid a spate of unexplained deaths on the island nation since January. The death count ticked to eight on Friday, when the family of a 78-year-old Ohio man revealed he died suddenly after dinner and drinks at the Dreams Punta Cana Resort & Spa. Authorities are eyeing bootleg liquor from hotel minibars as the potential killer, sources have told The Post. “I will not be going back to the Dominican any time soon,” Flowers said.
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