Health bosses have finally admitted that the Marriott Castle Harbour Hotel's water supply was the probable cause of a violent epidemic which struck down about 450 guests and hotel workers.

In a statement last night Chief Medical Officer Dr. John Cann confirmed that "the magnitude of the outbreak suggests that contaminated water and or ice were the likely vehicles of transmission''.

The announcement is the first public acknowledgment from Dr. Cann that his team made a massive blunder in giving the hotel's water system the all-clear when the outbreak first struck.

And it has also increased speculation from medics and epidemic victims that Dr. Cann deliberately tried to conceal the cause of the outbreak in a bid to avoid allegations of incompetence.

Four days into the epidemic Dr. Cann announced that the hotel's water system was not to blame and that an airborne virus, brought in from an overseas guest, was probably responsible, even though he was aware that the hotel had had problems with leaking sewage pipes, the water was contaminated and all victims had drunk water at the hotel.

And even though he knew there had been no further cases reported once the hotel water supply had been disconnected Dr. Cann prompted an Island-wide scare that the virus would strike down more victims because it could be spread through sneezing and poor personal hygiene.

His diagnosis baffled several doctors who claimed that, because of the nature of the spread, a virus could not have been responsible. Victims also claimed the statement was "a whitewash''.

And a hotel insider later alleged that Dr. Cann had struck a deal with hotel bosses, blaming the spread on a virus in order to get both parties off the hook.

Yesterday an American tourist whose husband was violently ill after staying at the hotel, said: "I know that my husband consumed a great deal of water on Saturday and became ill on Sunday. I did not drink tap water. If the illness was airborne why didn't I catch it from my husband?'' The health department's conduct during the outbreak is now being investigated by an independent team from the Caribbean Epidemiology Centre while the Marriott is facing a massive lawsuit from several guests.

Dr. Cann was not available to say what new findings had prompted the U-turn.

But in a written statement he confirmed that all 426 victims contacted by the health department had been at the hotel.

"While a causative agent has not yet been confirmed, the pattern and distribution of the outbreak suggest that the persons who became ill may have had a common source of exposure,'' he said.

"A sanitary engineer from the Pan American Health Organisation joined the CAREC team to assist with the conduct of the investigation into this outbreak.

"The engineer made a number of recommendations regarding the recommissioning of the hotel's water system, placing particular emphasis on improvements to the hotel's main holding tank.'' Dr. John Cann TOURISM TOU