USA: Allarme chimico.

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Più di 500 persone sono andate in ospedali della zona A riferire sintomi che si crede siano il risultato della fuoriuscita di sostanze chimiche nell'Elk River. Circa la metà di queste persone è andata in ospedale dopo che la West Virginia American Water Co. e funzionari statali hanno iniziato a dire alla gente di svuotare l'acqua contaminata dai loro tubi. La linea hotline istituita  ha ricevuto più di 2.500 chiamate: 2.008 relative agli affetti sulle persone, 100 legati agli animali e solo altre 447 in cerca di informazioni.

------------ENGLISH VERSION----------

More than 500 people have gone to area hospitals to report symptoms they believe are a result of the Elk River chemical spill. About half of those people went to the hospital after West Virginia American Water Co. and state officials first started telling people to flush contaminated water out of their pipes. "What was kind of interesting on this was the number of people that went to the hospital after they started using the water and it was 'cleared,'" said Janet Briscoe, director of epidemiology and emergency preparedness for the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department. "When you would think, you know, your water's fine, you wouldn't be having water-related illness," she continued. Since an unknown amount of chemicals leaked into the Elk River Jan. 9, 533 people have been "evaluated" at 10 different area hospitals, said Allison Adler, state Department of Health and Human Resources spokeswoman. During the same time frame, 26 people were admitted and released from six hospitals, she said. "As DHHR surveyed hospitals for this information, "patients evaluated" is defined as individuals presenting to the emergency department with symptoms they report as being associated with the Elk River Chemical Spill," Adler said in an email. The state Poison Control hotline has received more than 2,500 calls: 2,008 related to affects on people, 100 related to animals and another 447 just looking for information, Adler said. These numbers spiked right after the spill, and again when people were told they could start flushing, said Dr. Rahul Gupta, head of the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department. West Virginia American Water and the state started telling some customers Jan. 13 they could flush their pipes. Since the morning of Jan. 14, 256 people have gone to emergency rooms and 13 people have been admitted, Briscoe said.