Little by little the mystery is being solved. Three weeks after an outbreak of gastroenteritis was declared in Tarazona, Zaragoza, in which 498 people have already been affected, it has been confirmed that the origin of the contamination of mouth water is located upstream of the Queiles River, in the community of Castilla y León.
The studies carried out by the Health Department of the Aragonese Government in different segments of the riverbed confirm that the microorganism causing the infections is found in the neighboring province of Soria, a possibility that has already been considered since last week.
“The presence of oocysts of the protozoan ‘Crystosporidium’ has been detected before the river enters Aragonese territory. For this reason, the hypothesis that is gaining more weight is that the source of contamination is outside the Aragonese territory,” said the general director of Public Health, Nuria Gayán.
At the moment, the investigation remains open to determine the exact point of origin of the contamination. In this sense, investigation sources indicate that the cause could be found in a fish farm located in the Soria municipality of Vozmediano, where some controls were already carried out last week, although it has yet to be confirmed.
There is also the possibility that in the end the source of the infection will not be located, as pointed out last week by the Aragonese Minister of Health, José Luis Bancalero.
Starting this Monday, the General Directorate of Public Health of the Ministry of Health will coordinate all actions, together with the Ministry of the Interior and the communities of Castilla y León, Aragón and Navarra, given that the latter captures water from the Queiles River for the filling of the Dehesa reservoir, which supplies several towns in the Foral Community. The first coordination meeting is scheduled to take place today.
The protozoan ‘Cryptosporidium’, the cause of this outbreak, occurs in the aquatic environment in the form of an oocyst and cannot be detected with routine control analyses.
The first infections were detected on September 9 and 10 in Tarazona and, in just two days, there were 200 patients, the vast majority with mild diarrhea, abdominal cramps and fever. It was then that the town council prohibited the use of tap water, the only element in common among all those affected, for drinking, cooking or brushing teeth, a restriction that was later extended to the neighboring towns of Novallas, Torrellas and Los Fayos. , at the foot of Moncayo.
While waiting to confirm with several negative tests that the water is no longer contaminated, tap water consumption remains restricted in the four aforementioned locations. “The Government of Aragon continues to work so that Tarazona and its surroundings can return to normality in the shortest period of time possible,” the regional Executive has stressed.
Meanwhile, the outbreak has transcended the health area to jump into the arena of regional politics. This Monday, mayors and councilors of the PSOE of the town councils affected by the outbreak have criticized the misinformation and lack of transparency of the Government of Aragon, in the hands of the Popular Party thanks to its government agreement with Vox, in the management of this problem.
For their part, the popular have reacted by demanding “responsibility” from all parties involved and that they not try to obtain “political gain” at the expense of a public health problem.
