Gastroenteritis cases in Oman village on decline

Muscat The water distribution system could have caused the recent outbreak of gastroenteritis in Ffah village near Wadi Sahtan in Rustaq, according to sources close to the team investigating the causes behind the epidemic.

“The village with the population of 2,000 people gets its water supply from an overhead storage tank placed on a mountain,” according to a reliable source with the team investigating the outbreak.

“The water storage is clean but sewage water sometimes gets mixed somewhere along the distribution line,” the source told Gulf News on condition of anonymity.

He added that the same storage facility is used to supply to another village on the other side of the mountain.

The health authorities in the country got to know of the epidemic after a group on mobile chat service Whats App circulated details about it.

“It is not serious and under control,” the source said, adding that the number of cases reported last had come down to seven from an average of 10 until then. “About 14 are still admitted in Rustaq Hospital but there’s no need to panic or worry,” he added.

A team formed by the Ministry of Health paid a visit to the village and thoroughly investigated the outbreak. According to sources the team has written about fault in the water distribution system that could have caused the epidemic.

“At the moment everything is under control but a second spike could not be ruled out so we are taking every precautionary step,” a doctor with the Ministry of Health (MoH) said.

The MoH has said that it is monitoring the situation and on Saturday the Health Minister Dr Ahmad Bin Mohammad Al Saeedi, held a meeting with the epidemiology investigation team which is working round-the-clock to study the issue.

Dr Mohammad Bin Saif Al Hosani, the Health Ministry’s Under-Secretary for Health Affairs, visited patients at Al Rustaq Hospital to closely follow up the situation. The team tracked the direct causes of the outbreak. It conducted a safety check on the quality of drinking water and explored the development of hygiene and environment sanitation.

The team also met with health workers and urged them to immediately report similar cases. It called for action to provide necessary health services to limit the spread of intestinal infections in the wilayat and increase the rate of health education in the community.

The MoH has also decided to involve relevant government entities in addressing the problem in co-ordination with the Public Authority for Electricity and Water.

However, the ministry pointed out that the cases are decreasing and it underscored the need to abide by principles of the public hygiene, most notably the washing of hands and other safety measures at home.

Also referred to as ‘stomach flu’, gastroenteritis is an inflammation of the lining of the intestines caused by a virus, bacteria or parasites. The disease spreads through contaminated food or water, and contact with an infected person.

Symptoms include diarrhoea, abdominal pain, vomiting, headache, fever and chills.