Advisory note on bottled drinking water contaminated with Protozoa
Egypt
Event notification:
Ministry of Health and Population of Egypt has announced that some brands of bottled
water should be avoided as they tested positive for intestinal pathogens.
Kindly find below the names of water brands found positive with protozoa, and names of the
responsible companies which the Egypt Supreme Water Committee has issued a directive to
close these wells that tested positive for the pathogen.
This advisory is to respond to your questions and inquiries on this matter.
S.No.
Brand name
1
Alfa
2
Alhadeer
Governorate/site of
contaminated Well
Company
Man factory for natural water
Misr Oropa for food industry
3
Sawa
4
Aqua delta
5
Taiba
6
Aqua Mina
7
Aqua sotair
Beheira/Wadi
Elnatroun
Beheira/Wadi
Elnatroun
Aqua delta factory
Menoufia/Sadat city
Taiba company
Menoufia/Sadat city
Bergen company for food industry
(Image)
Giza (Kilometer 62,
desert
Cairo/Alexandria road)
The following measures have been taken by Egyptian Authority and MOHP:
1. Communication with responsible authorities to shut down the contaminated wells
operated by the above companies.
2. Communication to responsible authorities to pull contaminated brands
3. Referral of this accident to general attorney for investigation
4. Development of the press release to inform the media and community
WHO Egypt| Advisory note on bottled drinking water contaminated with Protozoa.
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14th June 2012
Contamination of bottled drinking water with protozoa
Introduction:
Several species of parasitic protozoa are transmitted through water
contaminated by human and animal excreta. Gardia intestinalis and Entamoeba
histolytica the most important intestinal parasites that can be transmitted through
water world-wide. Many of these incidents have been reported all over the world.
Ground water (source of bottled water in this case) that mix with surface
water or leak contaminated by excreta of human or animals that got into the
distribution system may contain low level of Cryptosporidium and Gardia can give
rise to water-borne illness. Cysts of these organisms are very resistant to
disinfectants. Disinfection alone offers no protection against Cryptosporidium and
only limited protection against Gardia. Filtration of such waters is essential to the
production of drinking water.
I.
How people can avoid infection:
a. Washing hands with soap, particularly before preparing food and after
using toilette. Appropriate hand hygiene practices include not only
washing hands but also keeping fingernails trimmed and clean.
b. If you get sick with diarrhea, please report to the nearest health care
facility for testing and treatment. Wash your hands frequently with
soap and water, or use alcohol-based product containing at least 60%
alcohol to clean hands. Avoid bottled water with brand names
mentioned in the table above.
Use other brands as they tested negative for these pathogens. On
purchasing bottled water look for the following:
i. Bar code
ii. Production and expiry dates.
c.
Individuals who wish to avoid waterborne pathogens can bring their
drinking water to a full boil (100 C˚) for one minute. Boiling water is the
most effective way to inactivate (kill) pathogens.
d. As an alternative, a point-of-use (personal use, end-of-tap, and undersink) filter that removes particles one micrometer or less in diameter
provide the greatest assurance of Cry
II.
How people get infection:
o Consumption of water contaminated with Crypto and/or Gardia cysts
or live forms passed through animal or human excreta.
o Person to person transmission from persons passing the cysts through
excreta or live forms of the parasites to their contacts.
WHO Egypt| Advisory note on bottled drinking water contaminated with Protozoa.
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14th June 2012
III.
Symptoms of the disease:
 Watery diarrhea is the most prominent symptom.
 Some patients suffer nausea, abdominal cramps, vomiting and mild
fever.
IV.
Duration of communicability (for how long patients can transmit
infection to others): it is generally 7-14 days in immune-competent
individuals where patients can pass cysts of Crypto for two weeks in their
excreta.
V.
Incubation period (time elapsed between infection and appearance of
manifestations): it varies widely but is usually about 7 days for Crypto,
and 6-15 for Gardia.
Immune-competent individuals can clear the parasite, in contradiction
with immune-deficient patients.
WHO Egypt| Advisory note on bottled drinking water contaminated with Protozoa.
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14th June 2012