Around 5,000 people have sought medical care at hospitals and medical centres in the province of Tokat, in northern Turkey, after experiencing symptoms of poisoning including nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhoea. The provincial governor has announced that samples from the drinking water supply are being sent to Ankara for analysis, as it is suspected that this may be the cause of the problem. Pending the results, the public are advised not to use tap water for drinking or cooking, and schools have been closed.
The Turkish authorities have launched a large-scale investigation in the centre of Tokat city after numerous residents went to health centres with symptoms of nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhoea from the afternoon of 9 October, according to the Turkish newspaper Hürriyet.
The results from the laboratories in Ankara are expected on 14 October. In the meantime, the local governor has warned the public of the need to avoid drinking tap water and has recommended against using it for cooking, stating that it may be used for other daily needs but always avoiding contact with the mouth, and that bottled water should be used for drinking instead.
The governor of Tokat, Abdullah Köklü, visited the city’s public hospital on Monday to gather first-hand information from the doctors. On leaving the hospital, Köklü told journalists that “so far, we have received approximately 5,000 requests for medical attention across all hospitals in Tokat. Currently, there are 30 patients admitted to various hospitals. Their lives are not in danger. The situation we are experiencing is commonly known as a stomach bug”.
School closures due to the outbreak
The Tokat Governor’s Office had already announced on Monday the closure of all schools for at least 24 hours due to the outbreak; it also announced that administrative leave would be granted for that same day to public sector employees with disabilities, as well as to pregnant workers in public institutions and organisations.
Whilst the schools were closed, the authorities took advantage of the pupils’ absence to carry out extensive cleaning and disinfection work in the schools, as the exact source of the infection or its cause remains unknown at this stage.
Authorities deny that the infection was caused by sewage
Meanwhile, whilst awaiting test results to confirm whether the hypothesis that the source of the problem may lie in the water supply is correct, Tokat City Council has issued a statement regarding various reports circulating in recent hours which suggested that a possible sewage leak into the drinking water supply was the source of the outbreak.
In a statement, Tokat City Council emphasised that “there is no technical evidence to suggest that the health problems experienced originate from our municipality’s water supply infrastructure”. Some experts have suggested that the cause behind this mass poisoning could be a norovirus, a type of extremely contagious virus that is transmitted by ingesting contaminated food or water, or through direct contact with an infected person or surface.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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