Observations placeholder
Contamination of Korea's drinking water
Identifier
008343
Type of Spiritual Experience
None
Background
Giardia lamblia is a flagellated protozoan parasite that colonizes and reproduces in the small intestine, causing giardiasis. The parasite attaches to the epithelium by a ventral adhesive disc, and reproduces via binary fission. Giardiasis does not spread via the bloodstream, nor does it spread to other parts of the gastrointestinal tract, but remains confined to the lumen of the small intestine
A description of the experience
Osong Public Health Res Perspect. 2013 Apr;4(2):89-92. doi: 10.1016/j.phrp.2013.03.003. The first outbreak of giardiasis with drinking water in Korea. Cheun HI1, Kim CH, Cho SH, Ma DW, Goo BL, Na MS, Youn SK, Lee WJ.
OBJECTIVES: To identify the pathogen of the diarrhea outbreak in a village in Jeollabuk province in Korea in April 2010.
METHODS: DNA extraction was performed from the 120 L of collected water, which was centrifuged at 10,000 x g for 30 min. PCR reactions were conducted in a total of 25 ul, which included PCR premix (GenDEPOT, Barker, TX, USA), 2 ul (∼100 ng) of extracted DNA, and 10 pmol of each primer.
RESULTS: Nine people out of 25 had a symptom of abdominal pain accompanied by diarrhea after they used stored valley water in a water tank as a provisional water supply source without chlorine sterilization. Among them Giardia lamblia was detected in fecal samples of 7 people using the polymerase chain reaction method. Although G. lamblia was also detected from water provided by the provisional water supply system stored in the water tank and used as drinking water, it was not detected in the water tank itself. This water-borne outbreak is considered to have occurred when the provisional water supply tube was destroyed under a building construction and contaminated by G. lamblia, but its precise cause has not been clarified.
CONCLUSION: This outbreak resulting from G. lamblia is very meaningful as the first outbreak of an infection by a water-borne parasite in Korea.
KEYWORDS:
Giardia lamblia; giardiasis; water-borne outbreak
PMID: 24159537