By Hani Hazaimeh

JERASH - Health authorities said the situation is improving at Jerash Public Hospital with only eight new cases reported on Sunday, raising the total number of the fever and diarrhoea outbreak cases to 338.

Yousef Qoqazeh, the hospital’s director, told The Jordan Times that only 10 citizens are still receiving treatment in the hospital out of the 52 who were admitted on Saturday.

“The patients’ conditions are stable and they are expected to be discharged within 24 hours,” said Qoqazeh.

On Friday, hundreds of citizens in the village of Sakeb, suffering from fever, diarrhoea and vomiting, were rushed to Jerash Public Hospital with authorities initially blaming the problem on food poisoning from a local restaurant, which was then closed down as a precautionary measure.

“The closure decision was made after most cases said they had hummos at breakfast bought from this restaurant,” Jerash Governor Ali Azzam told The Jordan Times.

Since the first cases were reported late Friday, around 57 citizens were admitted to public hospitals in Jerash, Amman and Irbid.

Azzam said initial tests carried out on potable water samples taken from the village turned out negative.

“We also sent hummos and water samples to the National Laboratories in Amman and to the King Abdullah I Hospital in Irbid to carry out more sophisticated tests to determine the cause of the incident,” he said, adding that results normally need 48 to 72 hours.

Meanwhile, citizens are still complaining about the water which they suspect was the reason behind the disease outbreak.

In a motion faxed to Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit by citizens of Sakeb, a copy of which was made available to The Jordan Times, they highlighted alleged “serious situations in the village”.

According to a resident, Hamdan Ayasrah, citizens of the village, which lacks drainage and sewage networks, used to have their sewage holes emptied twice a month by tankers which unloaded at the governorate’s wastewater treatment station.

“Last month, we were told that the water authority decided to divert sewage tankers to Al Akeider station, more than 50km north of Jerash. The new location led to increasing the cost of emptying sewage holes from JD25 to JD35 each time,” Ayasrah said.

As a result, he added, citizens reduced the frequency of emptying these holes to once a month, since most of citizens could not afford to pay a monthly total of JD70 to sewage tankers.

Citizens had addressed the acting director of the Water Authority, Hussein Khoshman, complaining about the situation, Ayasrah said, but Khoshman’s response was negative.

Copies of both parties’ communications were faxed to The Jordan Times.

Governor Azzam said that as part of a temporary solution to the problem, “the municipality will pay half the cost of pumping out the citizens’ sewage holes until the problem is permanently solved”, adding that the village will be provided with a drainage and sewage network through a three-year comprehensive plan designated for west Jerash. The plan also includes replacing the current water grid.

As authorities await the results of tests on the hummos and water samples taken from the area, the local restaurant remains the primary suspect in the outbreak, as far as officials are concerned.