SETIsLady
06-10-2005, 08:49 PM
MOSCOW, June 10 (Xinhuanet) -- Over 400 people have fallen ill with hepatitis A in a western Russian region in an outbreak of the disease that investigators believed was caused by beer and nonalcoholic beverages produced by a local brewery, Russian news agencies reported Friday.
As of Friday morning, 404 people, including 97 children, have been diagnosed with hepatitis A in the Tver region, 160 km northwest of Moscow, the Interfax news agency reported citing Marina Koratayeva, chief epidemiologist of Rzhev, a city hardest hit by the disease with 349 cases reported. The first case of hepatitis A was reported in Rzhev on May 30.
The liver disease has been reported in the neighboring Smolenskregion as well, Interfax said.
Hepatitis A is a virus transmitted through food or water. Health officials believe the outbreak was caused by beer and nonalcoholic beverages made at a Rzhev brewery. Sale of these products has been banned.
More than 1,100 people are reported in the region to have had contact with the people who fell ill and the regional government will provide free vaccines for those people, Olga Pishchulina, deputy governor of Tver who heads the regional anti-epidemic commission, told the Itar-Tass news agency.
Medical staff have inspected over 1,000 buildings in Rzhev, a city of 60,000 residents, and found one ill person, Pishchulina told Itar-Tass, adding epidemic preventive work is continuing
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-06/11/content_3070238.htm
As of Friday morning, 404 people, including 97 children, have been diagnosed with hepatitis A in the Tver region, 160 km northwest of Moscow, the Interfax news agency reported citing Marina Koratayeva, chief epidemiologist of Rzhev, a city hardest hit by the disease with 349 cases reported. The first case of hepatitis A was reported in Rzhev on May 30.
The liver disease has been reported in the neighboring Smolenskregion as well, Interfax said.
Hepatitis A is a virus transmitted through food or water. Health officials believe the outbreak was caused by beer and nonalcoholic beverages made at a Rzhev brewery. Sale of these products has been banned.
More than 1,100 people are reported in the region to have had contact with the people who fell ill and the regional government will provide free vaccines for those people, Olga Pishchulina, deputy governor of Tver who heads the regional anti-epidemic commission, told the Itar-Tass news agency.
Medical staff have inspected over 1,000 buildings in Rzhev, a city of 60,000 residents, and found one ill person, Pishchulina told Itar-Tass, adding epidemic preventive work is continuing
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-06/11/content_3070238.htm