Gastroenteritis outbreak in Tarazona affects 196 people from Sunday to Monday, forcing water ban Remove from tap and use for consumption and cooking. The city council made the announcement on Monday night after health centers received an alert, which has also been passed on to public health, who hope to find out within the week whether the actual cause of the outbreak is in the water. In principle, except for typical symptoms and diarrhea, There are no serious cases requiring hospitalization.
In addition to these 196 cases, two more are under investigation at the Clinical Hospital of Zaragoza. The two users had visited the hospital for other clinical care, but research is ongoing to see if they also had any connection to the outbreak. The investigation is ongoing and the Government of Aragon is awaiting the results of a water analysis conducted by our public health technicians.
According to reports from the Government of Aragon, the Tarazona City Council has increased chlorination in the network, in addition to informing the public about the measures that should be taken not to drink water from the network.
Sources from the Ministry of Health elaborated that the decision was taken taking into account the doctors at the health centers where the affected people are staying, Apart from water consumption, they found nothing else in common. Due to the increasing number of cases detected, the public health department sent a pharmacist on duty to the town of Zaragoza on Monday afternoon to collect oral water samples.
However, this was detailed by Councilor César García Benito, representative of the water and sanitation sector The first analysis performed was “correct and within normal limits”, but public health labs are conducting more detailed testing to effectively determine whether a relationship exists. In addition, the city council commissioned “two analyzes by independent firms to limit any possible issues and clarify the situation”.
“Obviously, we cannot put people at risk, so we are issuing this order as a precautionary measure,” he stressed. He also believed that the order would be “clarified” within 48 hours.In this sense, he explained that if it wasn’t water, it could be a virus because it also Cases of gastroenteritis were also reported in “other Aragonese towns”.
Cooperation with Mercadona and the Red Crosswill distribute bottled water at home to people with reduced mobility and senior citizens who cannot supply it. The council’s social services department has identified people with this difficulty and has started making allocations. They are asking anyone who needs help to call the phone number: 678 424 289.
Councilor for Social Services Lourdes Sánchez expressed his gratitude to the partner entities for their prompt cooperation and quick action. He also stressed that these were “extraordinary measures” taken in the face of “special circumstances.” He insisted that action had been “taken as quickly as possible to be able to continue to provide services to the most vulnerable and ensure that they have access to drinking water.” We hope this brings relief to these people and that the situation calms down soon. Sanchez said. The health department reminded that the water should not be used for drinking or cooking, Although its use for cleaning is authorized.
Two more outbreaks
There have been other gastroenteritis outbreaks in two Aragonese cities in recent weeks.Last week the Aragonese Bulletin of Epidemiology reported 80 of the infected people had mild symptoms, that is, accompanied by short-term diarrhea.This case took place in a small town Huesca Samples were collected at five points in the supply network. Their test results all came back negative.
This happened last week in a small town in Teruel. In this case, there were only six infected people, but two of them required hospitalization.Environmental Health inspected public sources and took appropriate samples.The water in two of the locations was determined to be unfit for drinking. They are all closed.