National and local health authorities have confirmed that tainted bottled water was the source of a recent outbreak of Hepatitis A in Guiyang City that infected at least 330 people, Xinhua news agency reported today.
The "Zhuyuan" brand bottled water was blamed for the outbreak, the report said, quoting five experts from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, confirming a preliminary report from the local health authority.
The water was taken off store shelves after the outbreak.
The contagious disease, which hit the capital of southwestern Guizhou Province late last month, has "basically been brought under control," according to Jing Xuxi, chief of the Health Bureau in Guiyang.
Health officials yesterday lifted the emergency health state after the epidemic was contained, the report said.
No human-to-human infections were reported.
As of April 22, 330 people had contracted Hepatitis A while 21 suspected cases had yet to be confirmed, the report said.
Forty-six patients have since been discharged from hospital and nobody is in serious condition, the report said.
Two students at Guiyang College were hospitalized after drinking "Zhuyuan" bottled water on March 31, they were diagnosed with Hepatitis A, the report said
Some people in Baiyun and Yunyan districts and Xiuwen County of Guiyang fell sick after drinking the same brand of water since April 8, the report said.
Reports of similar cases poured in from other parts of the city, infecting about 200 students at Guiyang College, the report said.
As of April 14, 269 cases were reported, of which 246 were confirmed, the report said.
Officials also urged people to get vaccinated, the report said.
Officials said an extraordinary big amount of melted snow leaked underground and tainted the source of the bottled water.
Southern parts of China experienced the biggest snowstorms in five decades and the amount of accumulated snow broke records.
Poor sanitation by the bottling company was also blamed for the contamination, the report said.
It didn't mention if any action was taken against the company.
Police were still investigating this incident.
(Shanghai Daily April 24, 2008)
The "Zhuyuan" brand bottled water was blamed for the outbreak, the report said, quoting five experts from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, confirming a preliminary report from the local health authority.
The water was taken off store shelves after the outbreak.
The contagious disease, which hit the capital of southwestern Guizhou Province late last month, has "basically been brought under control," according to Jing Xuxi, chief of the Health Bureau in Guiyang.
Health officials yesterday lifted the emergency health state after the epidemic was contained, the report said.
No human-to-human infections were reported.
As of April 22, 330 people had contracted Hepatitis A while 21 suspected cases had yet to be confirmed, the report said.
Forty-six patients have since been discharged from hospital and nobody is in serious condition, the report said.
Two students at Guiyang College were hospitalized after drinking "Zhuyuan" bottled water on March 31, they were diagnosed with Hepatitis A, the report said
Some people in Baiyun and Yunyan districts and Xiuwen County of Guiyang fell sick after drinking the same brand of water since April 8, the report said.
Reports of similar cases poured in from other parts of the city, infecting about 200 students at Guiyang College, the report said.
As of April 14, 269 cases were reported, of which 246 were confirmed, the report said.
Officials also urged people to get vaccinated, the report said.
Officials said an extraordinary big amount of melted snow leaked underground and tainted the source of the bottled water.
Southern parts of China experienced the biggest snowstorms in five decades and the amount of accumulated snow broke records.
Poor sanitation by the bottling company was also blamed for the contamination, the report said.
It didn't mention if any action was taken against the company.
Police were still investigating this incident.
(Shanghai Daily April 24, 2008)
