More than 600 people have been affected by gastroenteritis after drinking tap water in two communes in Haute-Loire, the prefecture and the Regional Health Agency announced on Thursday, which is continuing its analyses in order to identify the germs at the origin of the epidemic.
In total, 656 people, or 13% of the inhabitants of the communes of La Seauve-sur-Semene and Saint-Didier-en-Velay reported "symptoms characteristic of gastroenteritis (abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhea, vomiting and fever for some of them) most of the time with a resolution within 24 hours", indicate in a joint press release the ARS, the prefecture of Haute-Loire and Santé publique France.
"The large number of sick people whose only exposure was through consumption of the water distributed" in these municipalities "points towards the hypothesis of contamination of the water network," they add.
During the survey conducted by Santé publique France from September 3 to 10, 191 people (including 145 sick people) reported having noticed a problem with the quality of the water distributed (abnormal color, taste or odor) during the month of August, and most of them in the last week of August.
The rapid decrease in the number of cases from September 2 points to a contamination that was "probably one-off and occurred in the last days of August."
Analyses carried out since then show "compliant results" and the water "can be consumed in complete safety", assure the ARS and the prefecture.
Analyses are underway to identify the germ(s) causing this epidemic.
However, it is "probable" that these germs could "cause secondary cases of gastroenteritis through human-to-human transmission", warns the ARS, which recommends compliance with certain hygiene rules such as hand washing.
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