Pet owners should be wary about a parasite outbreak making its way through a water supply, GB News’s Jeff Moody has reported.
Public Health said 22 cases of cryptosporidiosis had been confirmed in Brixham, Devon and up to 100 people had reported symptoms to their GP in the last week.
Drinking the contaminated water or swallowing it in swimming pools or streams can cause infection.
Reporting from the affected area, Moody warned there are reports of pets suffering symptoms.
Jeff Moody has issued a warning to pet owners
GB NEWS / GETTY
“What’s frightening people is that is can be transmitted from human to human, from human to animal and from animal to human”, he said.
“Some people are saying their pets are very sick. Somebody told me their cat was very sick.
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“Someone told me they changed the water in their fish tank and all their fish died.”
Moody said locals are concerned about the unfolding situation in Devon and are questioning why local authorities were not “on the ball sooner”.
“It was only two days ago that South West Water said ‘hold on a minute, make sure you boil the water before you use it’”, he said.
“That warning came very late according to a lot of people.
South West Water is under fireSouth West Water
Residents in Brixham have been urged to boil their tap water after hundreds become unwellGetty“It took the MP for this area to actually raise questions in the House. He held meetings in the House of Commons to try and look at this situation and it was him yesterday who revealed it was an air valve problem.
“South West Water have been issuing supplies of water to people and I was there all day yesterday. Cars were coming in trying to get free water, literally all day long people were queuing up to get this free water.”
Around 16,000 households and businesses in the Brixham area of Devon have been told not to use their tap water for drinking without boiling and cooling it first.
Paul Hunter, professor in medicine and infectious disease expert at the University of East Anglia (UEA), said residents should “expect to see further cases for at least 10 days to two weeks”.
The parasite could “absolutely” still be in the incubation period for lots of residents, he told the BBC on Friday.
Hunter said: “One of the problems when you’re investigating outbreaks like this is that the incubation period can be about 10 days to two weeks.
“So often in the past when I’ve been involved in investigating outbreaks, by the time you know you’ve got a problem, the problem has resolved itself anyway, but you can’t guarantee that.
“Yeah, even if they have stopped all new infections by now, you would expect to see further cases for at least 10 days to two weeks.”
Laura Flowerdew, South West Water’s Chief Customer and Digital Officer, said: “We sincerely apologise for the impact this is having on our customers in the Brixham and Alston areas.
“Protecting the health of our customers and providing them with a clean, fresh drinking water supply is our number one priority and we will continue to work around the clock to make sure that happens as soon as possible.”