30 Aug 2016

Gastro bug hit 5000 in Havelock North

11:30 am on 30 August 2016

The number of people sickened by the contaminated Havelock North water supply has risen to 5198, the Hawke's Bay District Health Board (DHB) says.

Hawkes Bay Hospital

No patients are hospital with campylobacter at the moment. Photo: RNZ / Peter Fowler

That's more than a third of the town's 14,000 population.

At least 500 cases of those cases have been confirmed as due to campylobacter.

The DHB said there were no patients currently in hospital with a campylobacter infection.

A spokesperson said a medical officer of health and infectious diseases expert would present further data, and talk about people's health concerns, at a public meeting in Havelock North tonight.

Meanwhile a Hawke's Bay residents group is calling for a freeze on all regional council decisions affecting aquifer and river water quality, until the government's inquiry into the water disaster has reported back.

The regional council has launched a formal investigation into the contamination of the town's water supply, including whether its water bores were sealed properly.

The government has already begun a separate inquiry into the contamination disaster.

Transparent Hawke's Bay spokesperson Megan Rose said until the source of the contamination was known, councillors couldn't make fully informed decisions about river and aquifer management.

She said a moratorium on water resource consents should be put in place across Hawke's Bay, including on the Ruataniwha Dam.

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