After retailers on Tuesday night reported disruptions in the supply of bottled Mey Eden (Eden Water) due to pollution, the bottler announced that samples taken from the Salukia spring have revealed “deviations from the standard.” The flow of water from the spring to the plant was halted and the sampling results were reported to the Health Ministry.
Mey Eden insisted, however, that the water in its stock “was found to be normal.”
Reports of an outbreak of Leptospirosis in northern Israel are receiving a growing support, as on Wednesday morning, four students ages 14 and 15 were hospitalized at the Mayanei Hayeshua Medical Center in B’nei B’rak on suspicion of contracting the disease on a trip to the Jordan River.
Professor Eli Somekh, director of the Mayanei HaYeshua Children’s Department, said that “two of the students were hospitalized on Monday night and two more on Tuesday. Because the boys exhibited clinical symptoms, and laboratory tests suggest Leptospirosis, they are being treated with fluids and specific antibiotics.”
Somekh added: “The emergency room at Maayaney HaYeshua is preparing for the absorption of additional students during the next 24 hours.”
Leptospirosis is an infection caused by corkscrew-shaped bacteria called Leptospira. Signs and symptoms can range from none to mild, such as headaches, muscle pains, and fevers; to severe with bleeding from the lungs or meningitis. If the infection causes the patient to turn yellow, have kidney failure and bleeding, it is then known as Weil’s disease. If it also causes bleeding into the lungs then it is known as severe pulmonary hemorrhage syndrome.
The Health Ministry said this week that 14 Israelis had contracted Leptospirosis. Dozens of people have already arrived at hospitals, reporting abdominal pain, diarrhea and high fever – and it turned out that about half of them had contracted the disease.
Meanwhile, the Upper Galilee Regional Council issued a clarification according to which “there is no danger in sailing or bathing in the streams of the Galilee.” According to the announcement, reports of an intention to close the Galilee’s rivers are not true, and the Nature and Parks Authority has not issued any guidelines or concerns about the disease in the Galilee.