Characterization of the Potential Water- Borne Diseases in Wadi Gaza – Gaza Strip

Abstract

Wadi Gaza is the most important valley in Gaza Strip reaching a length of 9 km and extending toward the northwest and southeast. Due to the difficult economic conditions, the Israeli occupation and lack of the resources, Wadi Gaza became place for solid and liquid waste disposal from surrounding provinces. The aim of this study is to investigate potential water- borne diseases caused by wastewater in Wadi Gaza. This will be achieved through soil sampling along the course of the Wadi and analyzing the samples in accredited laboratories. The sampling locations were: the western part of the Wadi near the sea (Area C), near the Wadi Gaza Bridge (Area B) and eastern part of the bridge (Area A). In addition, the study includes a statistical analysis of the infected cases of water- borne diseases of urban areas close to and far from the Wadi, these data from Ministry of Health and UNRWA clinics, through collection data which contains number of infected cases by three diseases that have been identified in this research as an indicator of the presence of bacterial infections then analysis this data by Excel and ArcGIS 9.3. After studying the diseases caused by wastewater in Wadi Gaza, three indicators were selected: Fecal Coliform (Fc), Streptococcus, E-coli, as indicators of the presence of biological contamination caused by waste water. In addition, three water borne diseases: Dysentery, Typhoid, and Hepatitis A were selected to know how much the biological contamination affect the people lives surrounding Wadi Gaza and This will be compared with non-surrounding provinces. The results show that in Area B, the Fc concentration is 6.5x103/streptococcus is 3 x 103/g, and E-coli is 3.7 x103/g, In Area C it was found that Fc concentration is 5.4 x103/g, Streptococcus concentration is 4.4 x102/g, and E-coli concentration is 4.2 x 102/g. The analysis of infected people data showed that, Typhoid in Al-Zahra and Wadi Gaza (5.4, 1.9 per 100.000 populations) was contaminated areas by E-Coli and Streptococcus, and this does not conflict with the data of Ministry of Health for Typhoid, which has been analyzed. While Dysentery in Al-Mograqa and Wadi Gaza (14.1, 11.9 per 100.000 populations ) was contaminated areas by E-Coli and Streptococcus, and this does not conflict with data also, but Hepatitis A Al-Buraj got (0.14 per 100.000 ) this is different with the contour maps in MOH data, but for MOH data showed that, North of Gaza got a maximum number of infected cases of Hepatitis A. Public health is very important field; the government must care about it in order to maximize the safety of the people of the Gaza Strip, especially those who live near Wadi Gaza.