Holy water from well 'with healing properties' almost sparks outbreak of deadly disease

Holy water from an Ethiopian well, renowned for its "healing properties," barely evaded sparking a cholera outbreak . The well was implicated in the infection of at least seven individuals grappling with the disease after some brought the liquid back to the UK and Germany as religious mementos. Bermel Giorgis, a well in Ethiopia's Quara district, is the source of the water, which according to its promotional website offers visitors "profound spiritual revelations", "healing and peace for body and mind" as well as an opportunity to "witness the miraculous power of the holy water first hand" - an experience the travelers certainly encountered.

A report from Eurosurveillance connects four of these cholera instances to contamination within Europe and points to a resurgence of the illness in Ethiopia back in February. The document signals the Bermel Giorgis holy well in Quara as a vector, specifying: "One contamination source (in Ethiopia) was identified at the Bermel Giorgis holy well, in the Quara district. Vladimir Putin's 'worst nightmare' as another country cuts ties with Moscow 'My dad killed my rapist on live TV - but I wouldn't trade my life for anything' "The holy well is a site of pilgrimage attracting visitors from across the globe where rituals such as cleansing with holy water 'tsebel' are undertaken.



" Not sold commercially, this sacred water is often consumed or used by pilgrims for baptismal rites seeking physical or spiritual reprieve, and they can bring it home after their journey. Among those affected by cholera were four Brits, where three had journeyed to the African nation recently. Expanding on this, the report mentions: "The UKHSA identified four patients, resident in the UK (aged in their 20s to 60s) infected with toxigenic V.

cholerae O1 biovar El Tor isolated from stool samples. "Three patients independently reported recent travel to Ethiopia, two reporting travel to the Amhara region, with one of these specifically reporting a 9-day religious trip to the holy well in Bermel Georgis during which local water was used for food preparation and washing. "A fourth UK patient did not travel outside of the UK but reported that they drank holy water from Ethiopia, brought back to the UK by the third UK patient, who also became ill after consuming the water in the UK.

"The travellers returned to the UK from Ethiopia between the third tercile of January and mid-February 2025, and symptom onset for all patients fell within that timeframe. "Three were admitted to hospital and reported symptoms of watery diarrhoea, vomiting and dehydration, one needed intensive care for fluid resuscitation. "One case had a Campylobacter co-infection, and another had a co-infection with malaria.

Three cases were treated with antimicrobials (all three had azithromycin and one also had tetracycline). All four recovered from cholera.".