Looking exhausted and weak, Ben Fogle emerged from hospital where he is being treated for a flesh-eating bug that threatens his chances of taking part in a South Pole race next month.

The television presenter and adventurer contracted the tropical skin-eating parasite bug while filming the latest series of Extreme Dreams in the Peruvian jungle. He now has to make a daily visit to the Hospital for Tropical Diseases at University College Hospital, London, to be given an intravenous drip containing a toxic metal compound. It is hoped that the treatment will kill off the bug.

His condition is being monitored closely in an infectious disease wing of the hospital and he is undergoing heart and blood tests every other day.

The side-effects of the toxic treatment are similar to those experienced by patients having chemotherapy.

Fogle, 35, came to fame after taking part in the BBC series Castaway in 2000, and is known for being exceptionally fit, having run marathons and also rowed across the Atlantic.

He was said to be showing the effects of treatment when he arrived at hospital. One witness said: “He was coughing and spluttering. He looked in a really bad way. I almost didn’t recognise him. He walked so slowly, you could see that every step really hurt.”

Fogle had been filming a new series of Extreme Dreams, to be screened in the new year, when he caught leishmaniasis, possibly after being bitten by a sand fly that was a carrier of protozoan parasites. It caused an open hole an inch in diameter to break out on his forearm. The condition is potentially fatal and, in such cases, often spreads across the entire body.

One friend, who did not want to be named, said: “Ben is really suffering. His immune system has been shot to pieces. He is vomiting a lot, mostly at nights. His joints and bones ache and his muscles seize up. He’s never taken a day off sick in his life but he cannot work at the moment.”

Fogle, who lives in London with his wife Marina, 30, said that he was feeling “frustrated, as the cure is worse than the disease — but reassured that I am in expert hands”. He felt lucky to be receiving such high-quality treatment for a disease that afflicts millions of people in the developing world, many of whom die, he said.

Fogle added: “While the treatment is unpleasant, I am reassured that it has a high success rate and would like to thank all the NHS staff at UCH for their kind, professional care and help.”

Fogle is to travel to the Antarctic next month to take part in a race to the South Pole alongside James Cracknell, 36, with whom he rowed the Atlantic in 2005. He said that he hoped for a speedy recovery, to be able to take part in the challenge.

Fogle added: “I am feeling optimistic and looking forward to heading to Antarctica, which, I am relieved to say, has no skin-eating parasites.”

Action man

— Fogle spent the year 2000 on the Scottish island of Taransay for the BBC’s Castaway show

— He completed the Marathon des Sables, a six-day event across 160 miles of Saharan desert, in 2004

— He beat the EastEnders actor Sid Owen in a three-round boxing match for BBC Sport Relief in 2004

— He partnered the Olympic gold medallist James Cracknell in a 49-day rowing race across the Atlantic in 2006

— He set a record in 2006 for the fastest crossing from Portsmouth to Cork in a sailing boat

Explore UK News

• Crime News

• Education News

• Health News

• Scotland News

Times Recommends

• Please help: maimed children of war want their lives back
• Unlocking the cruellest prison
• Prince Charles named in £81m court battle