Mexico Tells Residents To Avoid Rio Grande

Mexican officials warned residents of a northern state Saturday to avoid drinking or swimming in the Rio Grande, the river that forms the border between Mexico and Texas.

Human waste, parasites and harmful bacteria have been detected in the river, said Miguel Angel Lopez, chief of epidemiologic medicine for the state of Tamaulipas.

The river is so polluted that even washing in it could cause serious infections, the government news agency Notimex quoted the officials as saying.