Hepatitis A Outbreak Prompts Class Suspension in Tizimín Village

Chan Cenote, Tizimín, Yucatán — Health and education officials have suspended classes in this rural community after confirming 12 cases of hepatitis A among students, an outbreak residents link to untreated water drawn from the village cenote.

Nine of the cases involve students at the local primary school and three at the telebachillerato, according to officials. Classes have been suspended since Sept. 15 and will remain on hold through Sept. 28 as a precaution against further infections.

Authorities have temporarily banned street vending and are reviewing water chlorination logs at the schools. They also contacted municipal liaison Carlos Delgado to request official information on the cases, but residents said he provided only a phone number and no one answered their calls.

Residents Question Official Count

Local resident Jimena Aguilar said the number of people infected may be higher and accused the health sector of concealing figures.

The main concern among residents is that families continue to draw water for human consumption from the cenote at the center of the community, where the water is neither chlorinated nor boiled.

Residents say the piped drinking water supply is limited, and they distrust it because it sometimes arrives cloudy — possibly, they say, because birds such as vultures defecate in the elevated storage tank. Several families therefore prefer to fill buckets at the cenote.

Neighbors said the cenote water is used not only for cleaning and irrigation but also for drinking and preparing food.

Residents are calling on authorities to carry out microbiological and sanitary testing of the water consumed locally, both from the supply system and from other sources, to determine its quality and whether it poses a health risk.