Water-borne diseases are illnesses caused by consuming contaminated water or by coming into contact with contaminated water. These diseases are a significant public health concern and affect millions of people worldwide each year. In this blog post, we will discuss common water-borne diseases, their causes, and ways to prevent them.
Common Water-borne Diseases:
- Cholera: Cholera is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholera and is transmitted through contaminated water or food. It causes severe diarrhoea, vomiting, and dehydration and can be fatal if left untreated.
- Typhoid Fever: Typhoid fever is caused by the bacterium Salmonella typhi and is transmitted through contaminated water or food. It causes high fever, headache, and gastrointestinal symptoms and can lead to complications such as intestinal perforation and death.
- Hepatitis A: Hepatitis A is caused by the hepatitis A virus and is transmitted through contaminated water or food. It causes liver inflammation, fatigue, and jaundice and can lead to long-term liver damage.
- Dysentery: Dysentery is caused by the bacterium Shigella and is transmitted through contaminated water or food. It causes severe diarrhoea, abdominal pain, and fever.
- Giardiasis: Giardiasis is caused by the protozoan Giardia lamblia and is transmitted through contaminated water or food. It causes diarrhoea, abdominal pain, and bloating.
Causes of Water-borne Diseases:
Water-borne diseases are caused by consuming or coming into contact with contaminated water. Contamination can occur due to a variety of factors, including inadequate sanitation, poor hygiene practices, and industrial pollution. Water sources can become contaminated with faecal matter, bacteria, viruses, or parasites, which can then cause illness.
Prevention of Water-borne Diseases:
The best way to prevent water-borne diseases is to ensure that you have access to safe and clean drinking water. Here are some tips to help prevent water-borne diseases:
- Boil water before drinking it.
- Use water filters to remove contaminants.
- Wash your hands regularly with soap and water.
- Avoid consuming raw or undercooked foods.
- Dispose of waste properly.
- Practice good hygiene practices, such as regularly washing your hands and keeping your living area clean.
- Get vaccinated for diseases such as hepatitis A and typhoid fever.
water-borne diseases are a serious public health concern and can be life-threatening if left untreated. It is important to take preventive measures to ensure that you have access to safe and clean drinking water. By following good hygiene practices and taking necessary precautions, we can prevent the spread of water-borne diseases and promote better health for everyone.
WHAT ARE WATER-BORNE DISEASES AND TRANSMISSION?
Waterborne Diseases
Waterborne diseases are caused by drinking contaminated or dirty water. Contaminated water can cause many types of diarrheal diseases, including Cholera, and other serious illnesses such as Guinea worm disease, Typhoid, and Dysentery. Water-related diseases cause 3.4 million deaths each year. LifeStraw® water(The aptly-named LifeStraw is an invention that could become one of the greatest life-savers in history.
It is a 25 cm long, 29 mm diameter, plastic pipe filter) filters remove the bacteria and pathogens that contaminate water to decrease the incidence of waterborne diseases.
Waterborne diseases are caused by drinking contaminated or dirty water. Contaminated water can cause many types of diarrheal diseases, including Cholera, and other serious illnesses such as Guinea worm disease, Typhoid, and Dysentery.
Illnesses are caused by microorganisms in untreated or contaminated water.
Most common types
Amoebiasis
A parasitic infection of the colon with the amoeba Entamoeba histolytica.
Bacillary dysentery
Cholera
A bacterial disease causing severe diarrhoea and dehydration, usually spread in water.
Cryptosporidiosis
Giardia
An intestinal infection caused by a giardia parasite.
Water-related diseases cause 4.4 million deaths each year. LifeStraw water filters remove the bacteria and pathogens that contaminate water to decrease the incidence of waterborne diseases.
SOME WATER DISEASES, CAUSED BY WORMS AND THE HOUSEFLY
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The first outbreak of waterborne disease to be scientifically documented in modern Western society occurred in London, England, in 1854. This early epidemiology study by John Snow, a prominent local physician, determined that the consumption of water from a sewage-contaminated public well led to cholera (Snow, 1854a,b). This connection, decades before the germ theory of disease would be hypothesized and proven, was the first step to understanding that water contaminated with human sewage

could harbour microorganisms that threaten public health. Since then, epidemiology has been the major scientific discipline used to study the transmission of infectious diseases through water (NRC, 1999a)
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Use good environmental management. Flush or discard any stool in the toilet and clean the surrounding area using hot water and detergent. A chlorine-based disinfectant is recommended.
- Practice good personal hygiene. Frequent and careful hand washing is important among all age groups. Hand washing of children should be supervised. Wash hands thoroughly with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, rubbing hands together vigorously and scrubbing all surfaces.
Wash hands thoroughly after using the toilet, changing a diaper or cleaning up a child who has used the toilet, and before and after tending to someone who is ill with diarrhoea.
Wash hands after handling animals, contact animal quarters, and clean up animal faeces, or garden.
Wash hands before and after preparing food or eating.
Take food safety precautions to learn about the fundamentals of food safety so that you can protect yourself, your friends, your family and the people in your community.
- Wash and/or peel all raw vegetables and fruits before eating.
Drink and eat only pasteurized dairy products (milk, cheese, yoghurt and ice cream) and juices.
Thoroughly cook all meats (meat, poultry and seafood). For example, ground beef should be cooked to an internal temperature of 71°C/160°F. - Wash hands, kitchen work surfaces and utensils after contact with raw meat or poultry.
Wash hands before handling food and between handling different food items.
Prevent contact of cooked foods with raw foods (i.e., raw meat, and poultry).
Clean and sanitize all utensils, equipment and surfaces (cutting boards, work counters, etc.) before and after each use. Be sure to use hot water and detergent to clean, then rinse with hot water. Sanitize food contact surfaces with a sanitizing solution
Avoid preparing food for others while you have symptoms and for 48 hours after you recover.
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DYSENTERY
Dysentery is a disease of the intestines. It begins with an attack on the intestines by the disease germs causing pain in the abdomen. This is followed by diarrhoea. The patient goes to the toilet (lavatory) frequently and the faeces produced are watery and mixed with mucus. If not attended to immediately, the faeces may soon become mixed with blood. At this stage, the patient becomes weak since the food he takes is not utilized by the body.
TYPES OF DYSENTERY
There are two types and each is caused by different agents.
A. BACILLARY DYSENTERY: This is caused by a germ called Bacillus. This germ is usually found in the faeces of persons suffering from this disease.
B. AMOEBIC DYSENTERY: this is caused by small parasitic animals called an amoeba. This parasite is found in dirty water.
SPREAD OF DYSENTERY
Dysentery is spread by the housefly
which usually breeds in dirty places from where it goes into houses. Amoebic dysentery is spread by dirty water.
PREVENTION OF DYSENTERY
- Food: all food materials and plates for serving must always be kept away from flies. Flies should never be allowed to settle on them.
2. Faeces must always be covered and placed out of reach of flies. The habit of leaving in the bush behind houses is bad as flies will get at it and will later fly into houses.
3. Water should always be boiled and chlorinated before drinking.
4. Flies should always be killed. Such insecticides as DDT, Shelltox, etc. are very useful.
5. Rotten materials should not be allowed to accumulate near houses as flies would easily use them for breeding. - THE HOUSEFLY
The housefly is a very common insect. It loves dirty and filthy places. The female lays about four hundred to five hundred eggs on decaying matter such as food or excreta. Waterborne diseases are caused by a variety of microorganisms, biotoxins, and toxic contaminants, which lead to devastating illnesses such as cholera, schistosomiasis and other gastrointestinal problems. Outbreaks of waterborne diseases often occur after a severe precipitation event (rainfall, snowfall).
Because climate change increases the severity and frequency of some major precipitation events, communities—especially in the developing world—could be faced with an elevated disease burden from waterborne diseases. In addition, diseases caused by Vibrio bacteria such as cholera and other intestinal diseases may pose a greater threat due to the effect that rising sea temperatures will have on the growth and spread of bacteria.
- factors of production
- entrepreneur
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WEED AND THEIR BOTANICAL NAMES
1. ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS AFFECTING AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION
2. DISEASES
3. 52. SOIL MICRO-ORGANISMS
4. ORGANIC MANURING
5. FARM YARD MANURE
6. HUMUS
7. COMPOST
8. CROP ROTATION
9. GRAZING AND OVER GRAZING
10. IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE
The eggs hatch after about a day and the little maggots which emerge grow bigger and later change into barrel shaped pupae. The adult housefly
emerges from the pupae after a few days.
HABIT OF THE HOUSEFLY
The housefly
feeds on human food such as sugar, palm wine, rice
, garri etc. when on the food, it vomits some juice into it. This juice is later taken back. It is during the feeding that the fly contaminates food with disease germs. The housefly is also very hairy and these hairs collect a lot of germs infested dirts which are left on food during their visits.
DISEASES SPREAD BY FLIES
A number of diseases are spread by flies. These includes
1. Diarrhea and dysentry (amoebic and bacillary)
2. Cholera
3. Typhoid
4. Tuberculosis
5. Worms and
6. Yaws.
-
WORMS that causes water borne diseases
(a). ROUNDWORM: They are found in the small intestines of man. They look like earthworm. They are pink or white in colour. They have the male and the female. The female is bigger than the male. It lays thousands of small eggs every day. These eggs are passed out with faeces or excreta.
Roundworms cause pains in the bowel. They are also known to damage the intestine and this may lead to loss of blood.
HOW TO PREVENTION OF ROUNDWORMS FROM CAUSING WATERBORNE DISEASES
- Since the eggs of roundworms are passed out with faeces a very important way of preventing the spread is to bury the faeces.
2. Hands must be washed properly with soap and water, after using the toilet or lavatory.
3. Hands must be washed before eating.
4. Food that has fallen on the ground should not be eaten.
5. Drinking water from rivers or streams that run through many towns should be avoided as these are usually contaminated with refuse. you can read about water cycle here
6. Food should always be protected from flies which easily pick up the eggs of this worm from refuse and dirty floors.
HOW TAPEWORMS CAN CAUSE WATER BORNE DISEASE
the tapeworm is a long tape-like animal that is found in the bowel of man. However, the bowel can only keep one or two of them. It is flat and has a small head which is usually attached on the wall of the intestine by means of some hooks. The body has a large number of sections each of which look like the other.
Tapeworms are passed to man when he eats contaminated pork which is not well cooked.
HOW TO PREVENT TAPEWORM FROM CAUSING WATER BORNE DISEASE
- Pork should always be examined and those that are infected should be thrown away.
2. All pork should be thoroughly cooked before being eaten.
3. Pigs should be well cared for in the piggery. The practice of leaving pigs to roam through our villages eating all sort of dirty food and matter will result in their meat being infected with tapeworm.
4. Faeces should be well disposed thus preventing pigs getting at it.(c).
THE EFFECTS OF THREADWORM IN WATER BORNE DISEASES
these worms are small, short and white. They measure about one quarter to half an inch long. They have rough bodies. The worms live in the large intestine and the anus, causing a lot of irritation and itching at night. The itching may cause scratching of the anus. During this scratching the eggs are carried in the finger nails and later transferred into the mouth.
PREVENTION OF THREAD-WORM FROM CAUSING WATER BORNE DISEASES
- Hands and underneath of nails must be well washed before eating.
2. Children should not be allowed to suck their fingers.
CHOLERA AS A TYPE OF WATER BORNE DISEASES
This is a very dangerous disease common in places or countries with poor sanitation. It has been reported in parts of Asia and some countries in Africa.
The disease starts with severe stooling and excessive vomiting. The patient then complains of weakness and stomach pains. The patient’s body dries up and he may even die.
The disease is caused by a comma-shaped germ or bacterium which is easily carried about by water and flies.
PREVENTION OF CHOLERA WATER BORNE DISEASES
- All drinking water must be thoroughly boiled or chlorinated to kill all the germs.
2. All vegetables must be well washed before eating.
3. All members of the public must be vaccinated against attack by the disease.
4. Persons working with infected patients should always wash their hands clean.
TREATMENT OF CHOLERA
Cholera can kill and very quickly too. If a sick patient is known to be stooling and vomiting at the same time, consult the nearest hospital immediately.
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Important topics related to the above article
-
- factors of production
- entrepreneur
- joint stock company
- public enterprises
- private enterprises
- limited liability companies
- migration
- population
- market concept
- money market
- shares
- how companies raises funds for expansion
WEED AND THEIR BOTANICAL NAMES
1. ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS AFFECTING AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION
2. DISEASES
3. 52. SOIL MICRO-ORGANISMS
4. ORGANIC MANURING
5. FARM YARD MANURE
6. HUMUS
7. COMPOST
8. CROP ROTATION
9. GRAZING AND OVER GRAZING
10. IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE
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