Dozens of citizen reports are raising alarms about a concerning increase in diarrheal diseases in Santiago de Cuba, allegedly linked to the consumption of water that arrives at homes with dark coloration, abundant sediment, and pronounced turbidity, according to an alert published this Friday by independent journalist Yosmany Mayeta Labrada.
The testimonies come from residents of El Cristo, the Altamira neighborhood, Antonio Maceo, and Veguita de Galo, among other locations in the province. Several affected individuals describe persistent diarrhea that keeps them bedridden for days, noted the reporter through his profile on Facebook.
A specialist from the Provincial Center of Hygiene, Epidemiology, and Microbiology in Santiago de Cuba, who requested to remain anonymous, confirmed the rise in cases and the attendance of numerous patients in health areas.
"The water arrives cloudy. We always recommend boiling it because, even though it is treated at the purification plant, it carries a lot of sediments," he explained.
The expert also warned that pipes that remain dry for weeks and breaks in hydraulic networks that coincide with failures in sewage lines can promote contamination.
It was recommended to let the water run for several minutes after the service is restored, although it was clarified that this measure does not guarantee its potability.
The situation is particularly serious for children, the elderly, and vulnerable individuals. Prolonged blackouts and fuel shortages make it difficult to even boil water before consuming it.
A neighbor put it bluntly: "How can we boil water when there are families who can't afford coal to make that chocolate they serve like water?"
Other comments reflect the magnitude of the problem. "In my area, the water smells like sewage with a terrible stench; I've been experiencing diarrhea for three days," wrote a resident.
Another person reported that the water from the Quintero Water Treatment Plant "looks like swamp water, with a dark color and a lot of sediments," and added that the company Aguas Santiago resumed charging for the service "blindly" this week, after more than a year of not doing so and without taking meter readings.
A neighbor from the Abel Santamaría neighborhood noted that since Hurricane Melisa, the water arrives with a smell of rotten mud, and there are already cases of hepatitis and diarrhea in her area. Another pointed out a revealing paradox: "Chlorine is available for sale on the street, but there is none for water chlorination."
So far, there are no official figures or laboratory results that confirm the magnitude of the potential outbreak or its exact origin.
At the beginning of October, Cuban authorities acknowledged that 2.7 million people were experiencing total or partial disruptions to their water service through networks, representing 35% of those receiving supply through that system.
In June, some areas of the eastern city had gone between 39 and 48 days without receiving water, and in July, two successive breaks in the main pipeline left the Quintero I and II plants operating with barely 1,000 liters per second.
At the end of September, the Ministry of Public Health acknowledged an increase in diarrhea, hepatitis, and dengue, attributed to "limitations in environmental sanitation systems, water treatment, and waste collection."
This Friday, the pediatrician Vivian Mena Miranda, vice president of the Cuban Society of Pediatrics, warned on state television about the increase in hepatitis and diarrhea among children and stated unequivocally: "If you do not have safe water, you cannot prevent diseases."
Related videos:
Filed under: