Four Golan Heights rivers popular with swimmers have been closed after at least 27 people were reported ill from a Leptospirosis bacteria outbreak in northern Israeli waterways.
The Health Ministry said Sunday that at least 27 Israelis were infected after swimming in the contaminated waters over the past week, and hundreds may have been exposed to the disease, although it is unclear how many will develop symptoms. The infected sites are the Zavitan, Zaki, Yehudiya and Meshoshim streams in the southern Golan Heights.
Leptospirosis causes flu-like symptoms, including high fever, nausea and general weakness. Symptoms usually emerge seven to 12 days after exposure.
Only 10 Leptospirosis cases were reported in Israel in all of 2017, and only six cases were reported the previous year. The source of the bacteria is believed to be cow feces in non-flowing water sources.
The outbreak has disrupted many Israelis' vacation plans and caused widespread cancellations during the tourism industry's peak season, with tourist attractions in the Golan Heights and the Galilee reporting widespread cancellations.
"We told them that the affected area is limited to a few streams in the Golan Heights, but they decided to cancel their reservation," Eran Gigi, whose company offers white-water rafting in the Jordan River, said Monday.
"Usually we get around 3,500 visitors a day in this time of year, but today we had only 1,500 visitors." he said.
Shmulik Hazan, head of the Golan Regional Council Tourism Department, said the outbreak should not scare people away because it is limited to a small area in the southern Golan Heights.
"The Golan has many streams, springs and pools. Everyone should come and help the tourism industry," he said.
Professor Galia Rahav, head of the Infectious Diseases Unit and Laboratories at the Sheba Medical Center, said Leptospirosis is usually not serious.
"Some 90% of Leptospirosis patients experience only minor symptoms; only 10% become severely ill," she said.
Six-year-old Tom Ron, who lives near one of the affected streams, has been hospitalized with suspected Leptospirosis since Sunday.
"We hiked in the Zaki stream a week ago and then the symptoms began: fever, nausea, diarrhea, stomach aches and more. We thought he had just caught a minor bug," his father said.
"But when the news came out about the bacteria in the streams we called the inspector to confirm the infection, and then we left for the hospital."
A blood test will confirm or disprove in coming days whether the boy was infected with Leptospirosis.
Yuval Miskin, 24, from Jerusalem, is also hospitalized after having apparently been infected.
"It began with high fever and then nausea, and soon afterward, I began vomiting and my body became exhausted and my muscles hurt. At some point my liver and kidneys could no longer function properly," he said.
