JAMAICA (AP) An Associated Press investigation found more than 5,000 people have been drinking water contaminated with bacteria in Jamaica.
The Associated Press is not naming the affected residents because they are being investigated by health authorities.
It is also not releasing their names or any other identifying information.
The AP could not reach officials for comment.
A study published by the journal Environmental Science & Technology found that drinking water in Jamaica has the highest bacteria contamination rate in the Caribbean region, followed by the Bahamas and Puerto Rico.
The study analyzed samples from 7.3 million people and found bacteria levels in 1.3 percent of those sampled, according to a statement from the research team.
It also found that in 2015, about 1.1 percent of people drank water from the Jamaica-Dominican Republic border.
A 2015 U.S. Department of Agriculture report found drinking water from Jamaica’s border with the Dominican Republic had the highest levels of bacteria.
That report did not provide a specific number of people who had their drinking water tested, but a 2016 report by the Caribbean Health Research Institute found that as many as 11,000 Jamaican children were tested for a disease known as B.
S, which is often fatal.
B.
S is caused by a bacterium called Bacteroides fragilis.
It can cause severe diarrhea, pneumonia, vomiting and fever.
It was also found in more than 4,300 people in Puerto Rico and 1,400 in the Dominican, the report said.
In 2016, Jamaica and the Dominican republic issued water advisories and water bans, with Jamaica halting all water use and the Caribbean islands issuing water restrictions.