2023-09-23 17:13:06
A protozoan, a single-celled being that lives in humid places or aquatic environments, is responsible for one of the largest outbreaks of gastroenteritis recorded in Spain in recent years. A total of 444 residents of Tarazona (Zaragoza) have suffered intense diarrhea and intestinal pain in the last two weeks due to Cryptosporidium, which has contaminated the waters of the Queiles River, a tributary of the Ebro on its right bank, and has spread throughout the mouth water network thanks to its ability to encyst and survive the usual purification procedures. More than 13,000 people residing in this town and in three neighboring towns have been left without being able to consume water in their homes. The number of people affected continues to grow and has increased by 36 between Friday and Saturday alone.
The almost explosive speed “with which the outbreak spread immediately led to suspicions that the transmitting medium was water, because it was the only thing that all those affected had in common,” explains the mayor of Tarazona, Tono Jaray. The Minister of Health of the Government of Aragon, José Luis Bancalero, explained on Thursday in the Regional Courts that the analyzes carried out in the waters of the Queiles River “have tested positive for this protozoan and that is why the alert has been activated for three more towns. [Novallas, Torrellas y Los Fayos] that share the water collection from the same place.”
The Government of Aragon has alerted those of Navarra and Castilla y León to analyze the waters of the river and its tributaries in the sections located upstream to try to identify the source of the parasite. The Civil Guard and those responsible for Public Health suspect that the cause of the contamination could be discharges from farms, a dead animal in the river or earthworks in areas of higher altitude than Tarazona.
According to documents from the Spanish Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology (SEIMC), Cryptosporidiosis—the disease caused by Cryptosporidium—is characterized by “profuse, watery diarrhea” that can last from two days to three weeks. In healthy people, the clinical picture resolves spontaneously, although it requires good hydration and a soft diet. Complications can occur in immunosuppressed patients and can be fatal. The incubation period ranges from one to 12 days.
The largest outbreak of cryptosporidiosis in the world occurred in 1993 in the Milwaukee metropolitan area (United States). with more than 400,000 affected (25% of the population) and 58 dead, almost all of them HIV-infected patients. The focus of the epidemic was in the water purification facilities captured from Lake Michigan.
In Tarazona, the public health crisis began 12 days ago, when the consumption of oral water had to be prohibited with the first suspicions that some “bug” could have infected it. Since then, residents have not been able to drink it or use it to brush their teeth or cook. The Tarazona City Council has distributed jugs of water this week, both from the town’s fairgrounds and from neighborhood associations such as the one chaired by Pilar Calavia, in the Cinto neighborhood, one of the oldest in the municipality. “With what they have given us [una garrafa por familia] It’s not going to reach us, we don’t know if it will last,” he complains.
Olga, owner of the store in this neighborhood, has been in charge of distributing water at home for free because “the people here are almost all elderly and need help, poor, and even more so when in almost all the houses they have been very poor” .
The restrictions will continue because, for now, the outbreak also continues. In Novallas, Los Fayos and Torrellas, the three towns that have also been affected since this Friday, there have so far been only two cases of gastroenteritis in the first municipality, but there is discomfort. “The measure,” says Pilar Pérez, mayor of Torrellas, “arrives late.” “After almost 15 days of the Tarazona outbreak and despite having asked, no one warned us to prevent it and I was telling the neighbors to drink calmly,” she complains. According to the mayor of Novallas, Pedro Lapuente, the inhabitants of his municipality did not do so because “the majority took action upon hearing the alert from Tarazona.”
The question now is to combat the protozoan. The water tanks are being cleaned and the treatment in the network has been reinforced, but it is important to know the origin. The mayor of Los Fayos, José Ángel Alonso, highlights that upstream there are several facilities, such as a fish farm or farms that produce slurry, which will now need to be reviewed.
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