Water-related illnesses

Water-related illnesses

Water-related illnesses fall into four major categories:

• Waterborne diseases, including cholera, typhoid, and dysentery, are caused by drinking water containing infectious viruses or bacteria, which often come from human or animal waste.
• Water-washed diseases, such as skin and eye infections, are caused by lack of clean water for washing.
• Water-based diseases, such as schistosomiasis, are spread by organisms that develop in water and then become human parasites. They are spread by contaminated water and by eating insufficiently cooked fish.
• Water-related insect vectors, such as mosquitoes, breed in or near water and spread diseases, including dengue and malaria. This category is not directly related to water supply or quality.