Fears as deadliest Victorian disease spotted again in the UK - killer bug imported in 'Holy water' from Ethiopia
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British officials have sparked fears of a cholera outbreak after bottles of contaminated 'holy water' imported from Ethiopia left several Britons hospitalised.
The water, taken from a sacred well and flown back to the UK earlier this year, contained a drug-resistant strain of the deadly water-borne disease, according to reports.
The well, known as Bermel Giorgis, is near Ethiopia's northwestern border with Sudan and is famed for its sacred or holy water.
It is revered for its supposed ability to cure illness and exorcise demons.
But researchers affiliated with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said four people who returned to the UK between January and mid-February and later drank the water required hospital treatment for cholera, leaving one in intensive care.
The east African nation has been battling an outbreak of the disease, caused by the Vibrio cholerae bacterium, since 2022 with almost 60,000 cases and 726 deaths reported to date.
Of the patients, aged between 20 and 70, two had recently travelled to the Amhara region — where the well is located — with 'one specifically mentioning a nine-day trip to Bermel Georgis'.
The researchers added: 'A third patient had not travelled to Ethiopia, but reported that they had drunk holy water from the well brought back by the fourth patient, who had also become ill after consuming the water in the UK.'
Three patients in Germany were also diagnosed with the same strain of cholera.
'Two had travelled to Ethiopia in January and acquired a small plastic bottle of water with water from the holy well in Bermel Giorgis,' the scientists said.
'Upon their return to Germany, both people consumed the water.
'A third person received splashes of water to the face, including the lips, and possibly ingested some of it.'
In early February, all three adults developed diarrhoea and vomiting, and were hospitalised, with one again requiring intensive care treatment.
Faecal samples from all seven sickened patients were sent to British and German labs for in-depth testing.
Investigations revealed the water was contaminated with multidrug-resistant bacteria Vibrio cholerae O1.
The strain has previously been linked to outbreaks of cholera in Kenya as well as Sub-Saharan, eastern and middle Africa.
Writing in the journal Eurosurveillance, the researchers said: 'The holy water was heavily contaminated and bacteria remained viable during the flight and in Europe.'
They added that preventive measures, including training and community engagement around the risks of holy water were undertaken in the region in 2024.
'However, the spread of cases into Europe related to a cholera outbreak in Africa is unusual.'
After all four UK patients developed cholera symptoms, the water was 'disposed of', they added.
The scientists also urged medics treating patients of Ethiopian heritage who are displaying severe diarrhoea symptoms to ask about any 'consumption of holy water'.
Cholera is an intestinal infection caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae.
It has a short incubation period, of less than one day to five days, and produces an enterotoxin that causes a copious, painless, watery diarrhoea.
This can quickly lead to severe dehydration and death if treatment is not promptly given. Vomiting also occurs in most patients.
Cholera is rarely found in the UK anymore, despite causing terrifying outbreaks in the 1800s.
It was flushed out by access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation facilities.
Cholera is does not spread directly from person to person via casual contact, such as coughing or sneezing, like many contagious diseases.
But when people drink contaminated water, use it to prepare food or use it to wash their hands, the infection spreads.
Washing hands with soap and water can cut the risk, as can only drinking tap water that's been boiled.
