Jacobabad hit by Gastroenteritis

* Contaminated water kills one, 120 admitted to hospital
* Emergency declared in hospitals
* Water samples sent for laboratory tests

KARACHI: A girl died and more than 120 people were admitted to hospital as gastroenteritis triggered by contaminated water gripped Jacobabad, officials said on Tuesday.

"We have received over 90 patients so far," administration chief of the Jacobabad town, Ghulam Mohammad Channa told AFP.

"We are trying to ensure the availability of medicine on an emergency basis," he said adding that a girl died over the weekend.

EDO Health Jacobabad has declared emergency in hospitals due to soaring number of patients.

Residents in Jacobabad said 120 people had been affected by diarrhoea and other stomach ailments over the past two weeks.

Local hospital chief Manzoor Khosa said he had been receiving 15-20 patients daily, "80 percent of the victims are children." They were suffering from stomach disease including dehydration, he said.

Khosa said samples of water had been sent for laboratory tests.

People from 10 villages adjacent to Jacobabad have complained of gastroenteritis outbreak after using drinking water from the municipal water supply scheme.

The incident is the second within this month in Sindh province. At least three people, two of them children, died and more than 100 were admitted to hospital after drinking contaminated water in Larkana district earlier this month. Last year contaminated water left several people dead in Hyderabad. agencies

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