Colo. Salmonella Hit Young People Hardest

Engineers in Alamosa, Colo., were flushing out the town’s water pipes with chlorine Thursday in an intense effort to stamp out a source of salmonella.

Residents are under orders not to use tap water for anything other than flushing toilets until the chlorine content falls to a safe level.

The radical treatment was prescribed after 276 residents fell ill with salmonella from a still-unknown source in the water supply. Alamosa draws its water from deep wells, so health officials believe the source is somewhere in the community’s 50 miles of pipes

The Rocky Mountain News said Thursday that the salmonella appeared to hit children and teenagers the hardest. One third of the victims was under 19 years of age and another third was younger than five.