A number of Dalga village residents in Minya said that drinking water contaminated with sewage may be the cause of repeated infections with a disease similar to typhoid fever, which spread a few days ago in the village.
Residents said the cause of water pollution was the construction of buildings over the past years so close to the village's water station. The Department of Health, meanwhile, confirmed that the water analysis proved its safety.
The Department of Health said 16 residents were withheld at Dermwas Hospital. Six cases diagnosed urinary tract infection and intestinal catarrh and were suspected of Maltese fever, typhoid fever and a bad colic.
Salah A. and Adel S., two residents, said a number of villagers resorted to private medical clinics, and discovered they had caught typhoid and paratyphoid.
Morris Hany, resident, said that the water station relies on groundwater due to the far distance between the the Nile River and the village, which is very close to the Western Desert.
The water station was supposed to be isolate with a diameter of at least 45 meters, but citizens built in the vicinity of the station contaminating groundwater with waste water.
Deputy Minister of Health in Minya Amina Ragab denied the spread of infectious diseases in Dalga.
The population of the village of Dalga is 80 thousand 539 people, and the number of cases that have been withheld at the hospital since 23 until 27 October are only 16 cases.
The cases from different places in the village and different diagnoses, said Ragab.
Ragab added 6 cases left hospital, and the conditions of other cases are good as they are subject to treatment and observation.
The number of patients compared to the population census of the village shows normal rates of infection, according to Ragab.
The preventive health management analyzed 26 drinking water samples in the month of October and proved the safety of water, said Ragab.
