water-borne illness
Figure 7 orange areas reported cholera outbreaks (WHO, 2009)
Water-borne diseases can spread rapidly and be very devastating. Unsanitary drinking water results in approximately 1.7 million deaths worldwide annually. Water quality has been recorded in Varanasi, India for a number of years. Over the past 12 of those years the quality of water has been deemed "very polluted" (Hamner, 2006). A survey on the frequency of water-borne disease, conducted in Varanasi, among 106 families in 2004 displayed shocking results. Diseases such as cholera, hepatitis A, typhoid, acute gastrointestinal illness and dysentery were reported in this survey (Hamner, 2006). Varying from neighbourhood to neighbourhood, the results displayed a range of 38% to 93% of families had a member suffer from some form of water-borne disease (Hamner, 2006). The most popular was dysentery, and the only death causing was cholera among these families. Cholera is an infection of the small intestine causing vomiting and excess diarrhea. Death from cholera is caused by rapid and severe dehydration; can occur in a couple hours. These cases of water-borne disease are not isolated to Varanasi, cities and towns all along the Ganges river experience similar problems (Hamner, 2006). Water-borne disease is a result of unsanitary drinking/bathing water and much of the population of India lacks access to clean water. For most cities along rivers, citizens of that city; especially in slums drink, directly from the river. As a result the frequency of water-borne disease is higher among these people. The frequency of these diseases are very hard to calculate in developing nations, such as India. The rates are expected to be much higher than the values given above.