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Diarrhea outbreak caused by dirty tap water

HEALTH authorities in central Henan Province found tap water contamination was the cause of a recent diarrhea outbreak in Huangchuan County where about 300 people had been infected, China National Radio reported today.

A river, which is the source of local tap water, turned muddy after recent rains and spawned the diarrhea epidemic, Xu Bianli, deputy director of the Henan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said after an investigation.

So far 294 diarrhea cases had been reported in the county that has a population of about 800,000, Xu said.

"The epidemic spread fast across the county but no death or serious cases had been reported," Xu told China National Radio.

Many local residents said almost every home in the county had someone infected by diarrhea since mid June. The disease would last for a few weeks and were hard to be cured, the report said.

Some common drugs for diarrhea treatment were sold out, said a doctor surnamed Zhang in the Huangchuan County People's Hospital, which received about a dozen diarrhea patients every day.

Xu said that due to an earlier drought, a local reservoir had dried up, forcing the county to draw tap water from the Xiaohuanghe River, a tributary of the Huai River. But the river was polluted with floating wastes. He said the center was working with the local authorities to improve tap water quality.



 

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