Fogle's South Pole race in jeopardy?

Treatment for a rare flesh-eating bug is apparently taking its toll on TV adventurer Ben Fogle, who is scheduled to race to the South Pole next month.

The presenter was reported to look "exhausted and weak" as he emerged from his latest visit to the Hospital For Tropical Diseases At University College Hospital, London. There, he is given a daily intravenous drip containing a toxic metal compound which, it is hoped, will kill the potentially fatal bug.

Fogle, 35, is thought to have contracted leishmaniasis while filming Extreme Dreams in the Peruvian jungle.

A friend told The Sun: "He is really suffering. His immune system has been shot to pieces. He's fainted twice because his body cannot cope.

"He's normally so energetic but he looks like an old man."

Fogle is due 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.

A hospital insider said medical experts will decide next week if the former Castaway contestant needs another eight-week course of treatment.