Thousands of people in northeastern Spain fall sick after norovirus outbreak
Charles Humphrey/Centers for D
Thousands of people in Catalonia in northeastern Spain have
been infected by norovirus. Local health officials said the infection
was caused by the consumption of contaminated bottled water.
According to the health department of the regional
government of Catalonia, around 4,146 people were infected by norovirus
after drinking water from office water coolers. The water was
contaminated with human faecal matter, The Guardian reported.
Albert Bosch, a microbiology professor at the University of
Barcelona, who was tasked with the analysis of the contaminated water
samples, reportedly said this was the first time that bottled water had
been infected by norovirus,
which otherwise usually contaminates tap water. He added that they are
clueless as to how feacal water can mix up with bottled water.
"The way this usually happens with tap water is because
somehow faecal water got mixed up with drinking water. But in this case
we are talking of bottled water, there is a process and we don't know at
what point it happened," Bosch was quoted by the UK daily as saying.
The Eden Springs bottled water company, which had supplied
the contaminated water, said it bottled the water in Andorra, which is a
small mountainous principality located between Spain and France. As a
precautionary measure following the outbreak, the company has recalled
more than 6,150 bottles of water it supplied to 925 companies.
Those infected were treated in Barcelona and Tarragona after
they complained of nausea, vomiting and fever. Six required
hospitalisation.
Norovirus, which mostly causes stomach infection or gastroenteritis,
is caused by the consumption of food and water contaminated with faecal
matter. It is a highly contagious virus that spreads by coming in
contact of contaminated surfaces.After no new case of norovirus was detected in Catalonia in the past week, health officials have reportedly declared the outbreak to be over.
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