Police called on to investigate stomach bug outbreak
TT/The Local - [email protected]
Published: 15 Sep, 2008 CET.
Updated: Mon 15 Sep 2008 19:17 CET
A severe stomach bug epidemic in a small town in western Sweden may have been caused by effluent unlawfully discharged into the Göta River, say local authorities.
At least 500 people in Lilla Edet have been affected by a bout of winter vomiting disease thought to have been caused by polluted drinking water.
Witnesses report having seen a belt of excrement and toilet paper in a neabry stretch of the Göta River just days before the onset of the epidemic, which reached its most critical point last Thursday.
"We just found this out at the weekend," the local council's chief environmental officer Annika Ekvall told the TT news agency.
The council has reported its suspicions to the police.
"Since so much time has elapsed, we're not holding out much hope that a culprit will be found. But a discharge of this kind in a water supply source definitely constitutes a crime," said Ekvall.
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At least 500 people in Lilla Edet have been affected by a bout of winter vomiting disease thought to have been caused by polluted drinking water.
Witnesses report having seen a belt of excrement and toilet paper in a neabry stretch of the Göta River just days before the onset of the epidemic, which reached its most critical point last Thursday.
"We just found this out at the weekend," the local council's chief environmental officer Annika Ekvall told the TT news agency.
The council has reported its suspicions to the police.
"Since so much time has elapsed, we're not holding out much hope that a culprit will be found. But a discharge of this kind in a water supply source definitely constitutes a crime," said Ekvall.
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