A TEAM of Public Health officials was on Tuesday rushed into the Indigenous community of Karrau, Region Seven, following reports of an outbreak in diarrhoea, which has so far affected some 40 residents mostly.According to the Ministry of Public Health, the affected persons are complaining of diarrhoea, severe tummy aches and vomiting.The Guyana Chronicle was also informed that in all cases of diarrhoea, blood was evident in the stool. Minister of Public Health, Dr George Norton, has confirmed the reported cases and told the Guyana Chronicle that the alarm was raised on Tuesday, which prompted a team of health officers from the Bartica Public Hospital to be dispatched to Karrau.
Karrau is located just outside of Bartica at the mouth of the Cuyuni and Mazaruni Rivers, Region Seven and is a relatively small Indigenous population that accommodates mining activities nearby. The people of that community do not have potable drinking water and rely on a stream to do their daily chores. “Tests were done but the results are inconclusive…It is [a] water-borne disease, but I am not sure which bacteria are present. Tests are ongoing,” Dr Norton stated.

The Minister of Health said not only children are affected by what he termed an “outbreak,” noting that the Karrau Creek area has been troubled over the years. He explained that the community has had several health issues, but those were always kept under control, given that they have easy access to medical care at the Bartica Hospital. “There is no permanent water supply there and so the residents use water from the creek to do everything. It should be noted that there are mining areas nearby,” Dr Norton told the Guyana Chronicle on Wednesday.
He stressed that while there is no source of potable water available in the community, the Ministry of Health has been emphasising the need for residents to boil and treat all water being used for consumption. “We have been advising the residents to boil the water before drinking it… we are particularly concerned about the quality of water used for domestic purposes. “This is an Indigenous community located in an area where there are mining concessions…it is likened to a landing,” the minister explained. He said about 40 persons live in the community. “Every effort is being made to ensure hydration and treatment is being provided to those affected with diarrhoea, vomiting and fever,” the minister told the Chronicle.
Health officials
Meanwhile, Toshao of the village, Bertille Thomas,has confirmed the presence of health officials of the Bartica Public Hospital. He explained that the officials visited the community upon hearing of the outbreak. He said too that the children have been vomiting and “passing mucus with streaks of blood and complaining of heavy belly pain.”
Thomas said it was only on Wednesday that he was made aware that approximately 40 residents were unwell. He noted that his own grandchild was unwell with the same complaints and he gave him medication that eased the condition. “The children started suffering during the week—parents didn’t take it seriously,” he told the Chronicle. The Toshao said too that children as young as one year old have been affected and according to reports, a significant number of children who attend the Karrau Primary School were absent over the past week due to the illness.
“Most people use rainwater…but due to the dry spell people get water from the row… people use the creek when they run short of water,” Thomas told the Chronicle. He could not state if boiling water for domestic use was done by residents, but noted that the water at the creek is “not too safe.”
“People bathe, swim, wash there…when the water is low it is safe for drinking, but when the tide is high, the residue from mining would come into the creek…there is no other water supply except for the rain,” he stated. Thomas said that there is hope for the residents of the Indigenous community, noting that works are ongoing to have a well operational by the end of this week. He said, “We have a well that is almost complete…we are doing the networking and that is at 98 per cent for the laying of the pipe. There are 200 more pipes to lay and that should be done by next week…we have to install the submerged pump.”
He gave the assurance that by next weekend the residents of Karrau will have “good water.”
Meanwhile, a teacher at the Karrau Primary School, Melrose Allicock, told the Guyana Chronicle that approximately 50 per cent of the students in the school were unwell. Many of those children have returned to school, but the others remain unwell.
“In the school a lot of the children, 50 per cent, have been experiencing diarrhoea and vomiting for about a week or so…some of them are back and some are still at home.” She said a team from the Bartica Hospital including a doctor and sanitary inspector visited the community on Tuesday.
Efforts are being made by the Ministry of Public Health to determine the cause of the illness.
Back in March, the residents of Karrau had protested contamination of the creek, noting that the creek has been polluted for several months by a miner who served on the village council. The water in the creek was discoloured. In January, the village council called on authorities to close a mining operation which they deemed to be the cause of the creek’s pollution. “The best solution to the issue is for the Government to close this operation; so we are asking them to act in this direction,” Thomas had said. The issue of pollution of the waterway by miners was raised with the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), as well as the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs and the Ministry of the Presidency by way of a correspondence.
Additionally, Regional Chairman Gordon Bradford had described the creek as heavily polluted and he too called for an intervention by the authorities.