41 suffer stomach flu, potentially caused by spring water

Taipei, April 12 (CNA) Forty-one residents of Xishan Village in Taipei's Shilin District had developed symptoms of stomach flu, which may have been caused by consuming mountain spring water, as of Friday noon, with 30 of them having sought medical treatment, the Taipei Department of Health said.

The other 11 people are recuperating at home and nobody is in a serious condition, the city department said.

On Thursday, Xishan Village chief Huang Hui-fen (黃慧芬) told CNA that since April 3, when a magnitude 7.2 earthquake rocked Taiwan, around 100 village residents had reported symptoms of acute gastroenteritis -- or stomach flu -- including vomiting and diarrhea.

These sick people all live in the same water source area, Huang said, noting that many households in the area have their own water supply system instead of the tap water provided by the Taipei Water Department and many saw three to four family members display similar symptoms.

Huang speculated that the incident may have occurred due to the April 3 powerful earthquake, saying she believed the seismic activities could have tainted the water source.

As of press time, there has been no official statement confirming Huang's hypothesis.

Also on Friday, the Taipei Water Department said in a statement that an inspection conducted on April 8 indicated a higher-than-usual amount of a type of bacteria called Escherichia coli, or E. coli, was present in the untreated spring water they used.

The city department noted that such water must always be boiled before drinking due to the possibility of contamination.

E. coli is a common kind of bacteria found in the intestines of humans and other warm-blooded animals, but its presence in food and water is a strong indicator of contamination, Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (CDC) spokesperson Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑惠) told reporters.

Food poisoning induced by the bacteria usually takes place five to 48 hours after consuming contaminated substances, Tseng said, and the seriousness of the symptoms varies largely from one person to another, with cases involving younger patients tending to be more severe.

By Thursday evening, the water department had set up five temporary stands to provide residents with clean water.

Meanwhile, two teachers and four students from a local elementary school also reported feeling unwell on Thursday, Taipei's Department of Education said, adding that bottled water was provided on Friday as officials tested the quality of the water dispenser on campus.

Taipei City Hospital's Yangming branch has dispatched a group of staffers to the village office to offer medical services.

Furthermore, additional outpatient services for those experiencing acute gastroenteritis will be available from Friday to April 20, except for Sunday, according to Chen Yen-yuan (陳彥元), commissioner of the health department.

Meanwhile, the CDC has launched an investigation to look further into the matter.