As of yesterday noon, 41 residents of Xishan Borough (溪山) in Taipei’s Shilin District (士林) had developed symptoms of stomach flu, which might have been caused by consuming mountain spring water, with 30 of them having sought medical treatment, the Taipei Department of Health said.
The other 11 are recuperating at home and nobody is in a serious condition, the department said.
On Thursday, Xishan Borough Warden Huang Hui-fen (黃慧芬) said that since Wednesday last week, when an earthquake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale rocked Taiwan, about 100 borough residents had reported symptoms of acute gastroenteritis — or stomach flu — including vomiting and diarrhea.
Photo: CNA
The sick all live in the same water source area, she said, adding 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.
The incident might have been caused by the powerful quake, as the seismic activities could have tainted the water source, Huang said.
As of press time, there had been no official statement confirming Huang’s hypothesis.
Also yesterday, the Taipei Water Department said in a statement that an inspection conducted on Monday indicated a higher-than-usual amount of Escherichia coli, or E coli, was present in the untreated spring water they used.
Such water must always be boiled before drinking due to the possibility of contamination, it said.
E coli is a common kind of bacterium found in the intestines of humans and other warm-blooded animals, but its presence in food and water is a strong indicator of contamination, Centers for Disease Control spokesperson Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑惠) said.
Food poisoning induced by the bacteria usually takes place five to 48 hours after consuming contaminated substances, and the seriousness of the symptoms varies largely from person to person, with cases involving younger people tending to be more severe, Tseng said.
By Thursday evening, the water department had set up five temporary stands to provide residents with clean water.
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