“Holy Water” Gives Tourists Drug-Resistant Cholera

Ars Technica reports:

European tourists who toted home bottles of water from a holy well in Ethiopia were likely hoping for blessings and spiritual cleansing—but instead carried an infectious curse and got an intestinal power cleanse.

Three people in Germany and four in the UK fell ill with cholera after directly drinking or splashing their faces with the holy water. Two required intensive care. Luckily, they all eventually recovered, according to a report in the journal Eurosurveillance.

The well, named after Saint George, is considered a revered holy site by members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, who visit seeking “healing, spiritual clarity, and divine experiences,” according to a travel site.

Read the full article.

Exposure to holy water from Ethiopia has recently been linked to several cases of cholera in the UK and Germany with a multidrug-resistant Vibrio cholerae strain, according to a new study. https://t.co/xOZSUOHk0H

— Applied Microbiology International (@AMIposts) April 14, 2025

European tourists learn the hard way that “holy water” can still have cholera bacteria https://t.co/SV7fdhCU6A

— Matthew Sheffield (@mattsheffield) April 13, 2025