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[LilQT4851]

Bottle up before you travel East Africa

January 17 2003 at 12:13PM



Travellers in East Africa should not assume that locally-produced bottled water and soft drinks were safe, Netcare Travel Clinics (NTC) warned on Friday.

"Although this is not the first time that water-based drinks produced locally in East Africa have been contaminated, it reinforces the fact that travellers should never take it for granted that bottled juices and water are safe to drink," NTC medical director Dr Andrew Jamieson said.

Travellers should be wary of bottled water and soft drinks in all developing African countries.

NTC spokesperson Dr Stephen Toovey said the warning followed a cholera outbreak in Uganda which claimed two lives and the ban on the sale of liquid refreshment in Kampala.

He said the Uganda Ministry of Health imposed a simultaneous ban on sales after traces of faeces with associated high counts of the bacterium Escherichia coli were found in test samples.

Toovey tests were conducted on locally-packed juices and water after an estimated 100 cholera cases were reported in the city.

He said several cases of dysentery had also been recorded in the area since late last year, with at least one death.

"The contamination is believed to have occurred as a result of sewage overflowing into wetlands and certain protected springs in the Kampala area," he said. Toilets that emptied into open drainage channels had exacerbated the problem, said Toovey.

He warned all travellers to be extremely diligent about treating all water used for drinking, cooking or personal hygiene - including when brushing one's teeth.

"It might also be advisable for high-risk travellers to be vaccinated against cholera prior to visiting areas where the disease is endemic," Jamieson said. - Sapa