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Hepatitis threat in Bandarawela

Regional health authorities have warned that the Hepatitis virus is mixed with water supplied to the Bandarawela area and advised the people in the area to drink water boiled for at least 20 minutes, Acting Health Director Dr. P. K. Rodrigo told Lankapuvath.

The water pumping station of the National Water Supply and Drainage Board is the main distribution point to Bandarawela. A survey conducted by regional health authorities have revealed that waste discharged from latrines in the area is constantly mixing with water at this pumping station.

Dr. Rodrigo said that this germ is transmitted in water contaminated with infected faecal matter. He added that waste discharged from latrines specially from those used by plantation workers in the Nayabedda Estate is mostly mixing with ground water in the area.

It has been revealed that the gas clorine system at the Bandarawela water pumping station is ineffective for the past two months and clorine is mixed with water using plastic cans at present. Health authorities said water cannot be purified properly by this method.

Meanwhile Lankapuvath's Badulla district correspondent Palith Ariyawansa says that around 5,000 persons in the district are affected by Hepatitis annually. Fifteen patients are receiving treatment for Hepatitis at the Bandarawela Hospital at present.

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