AMMAN, 31 October 2007 (IRIN) - Hundreds of citizens of Sakeb, 40km north of Amman, the capital, have been hospitalised with fever, diarrhoea and vomiting, blamed on polluted water by the locals while officials insist the real cause is food poisoning.

The outbreak began on 28 October, with 400 people, including children and the elderly, seeking treatment at the public hospital in the Roman city of Jerash, near Sakeb.

Most of the patients were discharged after receiving proper treatment, said Yousef Qoqazeh, the hospital director.

Officials from the health ministry accused a local restaurant of selling spoiled food. The Jerash governor, Ali Azzam, said the restaurant was closed down "after it turned out that most patients said they had hummus at breakfast bought from this restaurant".

The Minister of Health, Salah Mawajdeh, said initial tests conducted on water samples from the village did not show any trace of contamination, adding that more lab tests on food samples taken from the restaurant as well as the water network would be done in Amman this week.

Clashes with police

But residents, angry with the minister's remarks, took to the streets late on 29 October and clashed with police as they demanded swift action from authorities. At least 700 people were involved in riots that saw 10 people injured and windows of government offices destroyed.

Riot police used tear gas to disperse the demonstrators.

The clashes began hours after Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit visited the ill in hospital, the official news agency, Petra said.

According to a statement issued by town residents, faxed to Bakhit's office, the problem arose from a leakage in the sewage system. They said contaminated water had entered the town's water supply.

Sewage system leakages

According to a local newspaper, official documents from the ministry of health had warned of a possible outbreak in Sakeb due to leakages in the sewage system.

The paper quoted the documents, issued two weeks ago, as saying waste-water was running in all directions in the town, while citizens were unable to dispose of waste-water due to the high cost, and urging concerned authorities to take immediate action to avert possible future problems.

Officials from the ministry of water declined to comment, but the Jerash governor denied that the waste-water had leaked into water network. However, he conceded that residents could not afford to pay for waste-water disposal on their own. He added that the government would help by paying half the cost of transfer until a permanent solution was found.

The government has now formed a committee from the ministries of health and water to prioritise environmental issues, including waste-water and water pollution.

This is the fifth incident of mass illness in Jordan this year.

mbh/ar/mw

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