Groundwater contamination, use of infectious surgical instruments and adulterated food is wreaking havoc in Faisalabad as over one-fourth of the local population may be infected with different types of hepatitis, a health expert has warned following screening of residents in a number of villages.

An abode to nine million people, the Faisalabad district randomly has over two million people infected with this injurious disease, especially Hepatitis C, posing serious challenges to the health authorities in treating the patients.