QUETTA, July 7: Gastroenteritis has claimed 18 lives and about 150 patients are under treatment in the Zhob Civil Hospital, where an emergency has been declared. The hospital’s Medical Superintendent, Dr Abdur Rahim Sherani, told Dawn on Thursday that the disease had been spreading in the district since June 16 when the first case was reported. He said 18 patients had died over the past two days.

He said the main cause of the disease appeared to be contaminated water.

He said the 70-bed hospital was facing shortage of medicines and finding it difficult to accommodate the patients.

The medical officer said the patients were from the city and different the villages of Kakar Khorasan, Sambaza, Babar and Sherani.