Health Law

Water outbreaks past and present:

By Drew Falkenstein

Saratoga Springs, Utah; campylobacter; at least 15 confirmed illnesses, and likely many, many other residents of Saratoga Springs sickened.

Alamosa, Colorado; salmonella; as many as 1-2,000 people sickened by CDC estimates.

Saratoga Springs and Alamosa are two recent examples of infectious disease outbreaks linked to municipal water supplies.  Is sanitation technology and infrastructure progressing or regressing with respect to water quality and distribution?  What lessons have municipalities and water districts taken from past major waterborne disease outbreaks (see below)? 

Here are several other major water outbreaks over the last several decades (these major outbreaks were selected from an appendix to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environemnt report in the Alamosa water outbreak):

Riverside, California (1965); salmonella; approximately 18,000 people sickened, and 3 deaths.

Gideon, Missouri (1993); salmonella; approximately 650 people sickened, and 7 people died.

Keota, Iowa (1977); salmonella; approximately 290 people sickened.

Greenville, Florida (1983); campylobacter; approximately 865 people sickened.

Full post as published by Food Poison Blog on May 18, 2010 (boomark / email).