The Marine and Water Bureau (DSAMA) said in a statement on Monday that water samples taken from the sea at Coloane’s Cheoc Van Beach have been found to contain the Vibrio cholerae bacterium which causes cholera.
According to the statement, the DSAMA has received a report from the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) that test results from the water samples proved positive for Vibrio cholerae – which causes the acute diarrhoeal disease.
The statement said that the Marine and Water Bureau has reported the findings to the Disease Prevention and Control Centre of the Health Bureau (SSM) and that it has hoisted the red flag at the beach – which means that residents are advised not to swim there. Notices have also been put up on the beach to remind residents about the bacterial menace, the statement said.
According to the Macau Post Daily, the government will continue to monitor the situation and provide the public with the latest information in a timely manner, the statement said.
The statement also said that “no abnormality has been detected at Hac Sa Beach.”
The Health Bureau (SSM) has previously said that eight cases of cholera were recorded in 1998 and that none of the cases was caused by swimming at local beaches.
The Health Bureau has also said there have been multiple occasions in which water samples taken from the sea at the city’s beaches were found to contain the Vibrio cholerae bacterium over the past two decades, adding that no cholera cases were recorded in Macau after 1998.
