Outbreaks

A new outbreak of the brain-attacking amoeba Naegleria fowleri claimed the lives of ten victims in Karachi, Pakistan this year, according to an October 10 CNN report. Tests of the city’s water supply found either no chlorine or insufficient chlorine levels in 22 percent (198 of 900) of samples taken around Karachi. Officials linked the... Read More »

World Water Week just ended and, this year, Mother Nature is proving to be one of the most powerful obstacles to clean water. This year, two natural disasters have resulted in two human tragedies a half a world apart. The origin of one disaster was in the ground; the other in the sky. But the distressing... Read More »

At least 15 people in Jackson, Missouri have been infected with E. coli bacteria after drinking water at a local fitness center. E. coli is a strain of the bacteria that causes infections in an estimated 70,000 Americans each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Public Health officials from Cape Girardeau County tested a drinking fountain and a... Read More »

Last month, the City of Saratoga Springs, Utah, issued a boil water order for the northern half of the city after Campylobacter bacteria were discovered in the city’s drinking water system. At least 15 people became ill with confirmed Campylobacteriosis, and the Utah County Health Department received additional reports of illness including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and stomach cramps consistent with Campylobacter infection.... Read More »

Last Sunday marked the 10 year anniversary of the E. coli outbreak that was caused by contamination of the water supply in Walkerton, Ontario. In May of 2000, more than half of the town’s 5,000 residents became severely sick and seven people died as a result of bacteria laden water. The drinking water supply became tainted when... Read More »

A group of 29 plaintiffs filed a lawsuit March 1 against the city of Alamosa, Colorado claimingsalmonella bacteria in the water supply had sickened and even killed some members of their families. An investigation by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment concluded that salmonella from animal feces contaminated the drinking water supply in March 2008 for an entire week before being... Read More »

Last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notified Miami-Dade health officials that three tourists, all of whom stayed at the luxury EPIC Hotel, had contracted Legionnaires’ disease, a severe form of pneumonia. Investigators initially attributed the outbreak to low levels of chlorine in the hotel’s drinking water, which presumably allowed Legionella to contaminate the water supply; however, the chlorine levels... Read More »