With a lot of patience, a little humor and liters of bottled water. This is how the inhabitants of the Zaragoza town of Tarazona and the surrounding area cope with the outbreak of gastroenteritis caused by a protozoan that has already caused 452 cases in the area in the past two weeks, the largest of this type recorded in Spain in recent years and one of the largest in Europe.
The first infections were detected on September 9 and 10 and, in just two days, 200 patients were reached, the vast majority with mild cases of diarrhea, abdominal cramps and fever. It was then that the Tarazona City Council prohibited the use of tap water, the only common element among all those affected, for drinking, cooking or brushing teeth. The restrictions were then extended to the neighboring towns of Novallas, Torrellas and Los Fayos, on the slopes of Moncayo, and already affect around 13,000 people.
After analyzing the feces of the sick and the water, the Department of Health of the Government of Aragon announced on the 20th the presence of a protozoan of the genus Crypstosporidium in the mouth water from the Queiles River, where these populations are supplied. The concentration of the parasite in this tributary of the Ebro, undetectable with the usual control procedures, is 24 times higher than that detected in the municipal supply network, thanks in part to the disinfection measures adopted in the tanks and the pipes themselves , although these are not sufficient to eradicate their presence.
At the same time, the authorities are searching without success for the possible focus of the contamination. "During the weekend, practically the entire stretch of the river was investigated and no suspicious or illegal dumping was found on the entire bank of the Queiles. The Civil Guard has practically arrived at its birth and has not found anything unusual", said yesterday the Minister of Health of the Government of Aragon, José Luis Bancalero, after meeting with local authorities, members of the Hydrographic Confederation of the Ebro and Seprona agents.
The councilor also pointed out that, for now, all hypotheses are "off the table", such as the existence of leaks, legal or illegal discharges or even that it is the effect of torrential rains, which could having dragged some contaminated residue into the water (it is a very common protozoan in sheep and cows). "We are not ruling anything out", he asserted, not even if in the end it is not discovered where the focus is or the reason for the water pollution.
Over the next few days, the authorities plan to segment the river to take specific samples by section and make partial analyzes of its route. Likewise, they have contacted the Ministries of Health and Ecological Transition, from whom they expect a response today "at the latest" on the recommendations and analysis, and with the neighboring communities of Navarre and Castilla y León, where the course of the River. Yesterday, the first analyzes carried out by the Sorian councils of Vozmediano, Ólvega and Ágreda confirmed that the results in their waters are correct.
In the meantime, the affected population has no other option but to continue to wait resignedly and use bottled water, since the restrictions on the consumption of mouth water will be maintained until the results are "seriously" negative on the network.
