Exotic holiday danger.

MORE holidaymakers than ever are coming home with tropical diseases because of the popularity of exotic destinations.

Cases of the flesh-eating bug leishmaniasis have doubled since 1999. And travellers spending thousands of pounds visiting remote jungle areas are increasingly catching malaria from mosquitos.

Around 2000 adventureseekers return to Britain with the disease every year - and five died from it in 2008.

The London Hospital for Tropical Diseases treats more than 30 cases of leishmaniasis a year, double the number 10 years ago.

The illness usually shows itself in the form of the Baghdad boil, where ulcers appear on the skin.

But another type, known as black fever, can attack the vital organs.

One victim was TV presenter Ben Fogle, who had to have toxic drug therapy after he was infected by a sand-fly bite while filming in Peru last year.

CAPTION(S):

MALARIA: Mosquito