Posted on 06/26/2003 11:37:57 AM PDT by yonif
More than 100 people have been hospitalized in the past two days with symptoms of hepatitis A after drinking contaminated water in an eastern Ukrainian town, bringing the total number affected by the outbreak above 400, officials said Tuesday.
Hepatitis A is a highly infectious liver disease typically contracted by eating or drinking food or fluids contaminated by traces of fecal material. Symptoms include fatigue, fever, nausea and jaundice.
Israel has born the brunt of recent scathing Amnesty International reports and was placed on a US State Department's black list, a double punch which inaugurated the fight against trafficking. "The issue of trafficking became politically correct," says Nomi Levenkron, attorney for the Hotline for Migrant Workers. Last June Israel was taken off the US State Department's list of worst offenders.
The outbreak began June 9 after high levels of stagnant subsoil waters caused the town's water supply and sewage systems to overflow. A regional spokeswoman said the outbreak was connected with the closure of coal mines, which began in 1997. The mines have filled up with water but authorities don't have financing to pump them out, she said.
To stem the disease's spread, pipes have been replaced, sewage systems are being overhauled, water is being pumped out of dwellings, and authorities are distributing fresh drinking water to residents, the Emergency Ministry said.
Officials have budgeted some 200,000 hryvna (US$38,000) to fight the outbreak and France's Aventis Pasteur pharmaceutical company donated 1,000 doses of vaccines.
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