I was looking at a map of diseases, world-wide, from the WHO (World Health Organization), showing wide swaths of HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, etc. throughout the world. Including Europe, which seems relatively unscathed, except for a band of ‘diarrheal diseases’ in Ireland. I’m curious as to why, and why in Ireland in particular?
Evidently due to abundant natural surface water sources, Ireland has been late in the game establishing centralized water supplies with guaranteed quality: Water supply and sanitation in the Republic of Ireland - Wikipedia
Looking at the WHO definition, it seems like they’re just describing a symptom, not a disease. The cause could be anything from eating spoiled food to Cholera.
But most of the cases stem for poor sanitation or poor hygiene during food prep. Surely Ireland has a modern sanitary system and food preparation laws?
Edited: shows what I know. So Ireland’s water system is below British/European standards?
In general, no. The public water supply is normally of very good quality and perfectly safe to drink. The quality is more variable from rural group water schemes and private wells.