Norovirus Gastroenteritis outbreak in Kurdistan Province: Contamination of the Water Supply System

Background and aim: Noroviruses are the most common known cause of non-bacterial acute gastroenteritis in worldwide. Norovirus gastroenteritis most often occurs in the winter with vomiting and diarrhea. Materials and Methods: This cross sectional study was done to evaluate the outbreak of gastroenteritis in one of the villages of Kurdistan province, 1-12 February 2019. During this period, 149 people developed joint illness and symptoms of diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, and their information was recorded. Data analysis was done with Stata7 software. Results: Attack rate of the total population in the village was 31.17%. Also, Attack rate in rural men and women was 26.5 percent and 36.24 percent, respectively. The median age of the patients was 26.5 years. The mean and standard deviation of patients' age in the first days of outbreak were less than other days that this relationship was statistically meaningful (P = 0.003). The most common symptoms were non-bloody diarrhea (57.71%), vomiting (52.34%), abdominal cramp (26.17%) and nausea (24.83%). According to the shape of the epidemic curve, the outbreak was a community-wide outbreak caused by the norovirus virus. Conclusion: Based on clinical evidence, epidemiological examination, results of human and water samples analysis, outbreaks occurred due to the consumption of drinking water contaminated with norovirus. To prevent similar outbreaks, it is recommended to fix the bugs observed in the water supply system and implement the water safety program.