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Between Thursday and Friday in Torri del Benaco, an Italian municipality in the province of Verona which is located on the Venetian coast of Lake Garda, hundreds of people (between 200 and 300, writes the Corriere del Veneto) have developed symptoms of gastroenteritis, an inflammation of the intestine and gastric mucosa also known as intestinal flu. Many people were taken to the nearest emergency room, that of Peschiera del Garda, and there were dozens of calls to 118.
The spread of gastroenteritis is due to norovirus, a very contagious pathogen that causes diarrhea, vomiting and abdominal pain: this was revealed by local health services after examining stool samples from some citizens. Most of the infected people said they felt ill after drinking tap water: it is therefore possible that the virus spread through the local water network, which is in great difficulty these days due to heavy rains and storms in Veneto, which among other things caused a worrying increase in the level of Lake Garda.
To prevent further infections, an ordinance issued by the mayor of Torri del Benaco, Stefano Nicotra, has been in effect since Friday morning, prohibiting the use of water from the water supply network for drinking or food purposes.
Also on Friday, the Azienda gardesana servizi (AGS), the company that manages the water service of 20 municipalities on the Veronese shore of Lake Garda, sent water samples to the Veritas laboratory in Venice for analysis, the results of which should arrive on Saturday.
Carlo Alberto Voi, the director of the AGS, told the Corriere del Veneto which, to disinfect local water networks, chlorine tablets were dissolved in the pipes. «We have no evidence that norovirus is in the water or how it could have gotten there. We just have to wait for the results of the tests to understand”, she added.
