Cryptosporidium Lawyer & Attorney : Marler Clark : Cryptosporidium Blog

We doubt if many readers are going to be looking for a hotel or motel in Fort Dodge, Iowa.   However, if you are, avoid the check-in line at the Quality Inn.   It does not look like much (see picture), but there is a swimming pool inside for 96 room, 37-year old hotel/motel.  For sure, do not go in the pool!

The Webster County Board of Health met on Wednesday night to discuss what to do about the Quality Inn.   Its pool has failed cleanliness tests six times since December, but the hotel management appears to care less.   The Fort Dodge Messenger reports:

According to Webster County Sanitarian Gary Boerner, management of Quality Inn, at 2001 Highway 169 in Fort Dodge, has failed to close their indoor pool and spa, despite failing numerous tests to determine its cleanliness. Boerner said that he has visited the establishment on at least six different occasions since December. The most recent visit was Wednesday.

''When this really became an issue was when the softball tournament was in town,'' Boerner told the board. ''I went out to Quality Inn to make sure they were cooperating correctly. I had the state inspector with me that day as well. We walked in there, there were the young kids swimming in the pool, I took a test and discovered that there was absolutely no chlorine in either the pool or the spa.''

After explaining the situation to management and telling them to close the pool, Boerner made two signs declaring the pool closed by order of the Webster County Public Health sanitarian. He then placed one sign at the front of the hotel and one at the entrance into the pool.

A visit the next day found the signs taken down and the pool open for business.

The health board referred the issue to the County Attorney for enforcement action.  Go here for more.

 

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For the past month, much of the country has experienced temperatures in the 90 to 100 degree range.  That's not a time when anyone wants to close swimming pools, but many have been closed when the pesky Cryptosporidium parasite arrives on the scene.

Yet, we think it would be a great graduate thesis for some environmental health student to study how various jurisdictions have reacted this summer.   We were impressed by the swift action Phoenix City Manager Frank Fairbanks took in closing all city pools when confronted with the Crypto challenge. (See: How Phoenix Delivered The News That All Pools Are Closed!)

Perhaps by contrast, there were reports of Crypto-caused illnesses ten days ago at the Cleburne, Texas  Splash Station Water Park.   Only after "an incident" that forced it to close Sunday did the park come up with the Monday closure plan.   According to the Cleburne Times Review:

Cleburne’s Splash Station water park will be closed on Mondays through the end of the summer operating season. All pools will be hyper-chlorinated and the facility disinfected during that time each week. As a result of recent waterborne illness concerns Splash Station management is taking this precautionary approach to ensure patrons of the water park are protected.

Even with ongoing screening of patrons, an incident Sunday afternoon prompted Splash Station to be shut down and sanitized. The facility was then hyper-chlorinated and will now re-open Tuesday as regularly scheduled.

Go here for more on Cleburne.  These are just two examples.  We sure like to see a good study into the best approach to controlling Crypto.

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Burger's Lake, a popular waterhole in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, was set to re-opened today after being closed since July 16 to clean up  Cryptosporidium contamination.

According to the Fort Worth Star Telegram:

Workers at the popular swimming hole have completed the hyperchlorination process recommended by health officials, a park worker said. Hyperchlorination involves "shocking" the water with a concentrated dose of chlorine.

Health officials were expected to start testing the water at 6 a.m., according to a text message from owner Licurgus Mahan.

If needed, fresh water will continue to be added until the chlorine level is safe for swimming, he said.

Tarrant County has 20 confirmed cases of cryptosporidiosis, the newspaper says. Symptoms include diarrhea and nausea.  Go here for more.

 

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"Good evening. I’m Phoenix City Manager Frank Fairbanks.

Today we learned from Maricopa County officials that two swimmers who had used the city’s Starlight Pool have tested positive for the intestinal illness crypto-spor-i-dio-sis, commonly known as “crypto.”

We also have been made aware that 14 lifeguards and 15 visitors to Starlight Pool have been ill.

We do not know that all of these people have been ill with crypto. And the pool chemical tests have met County health standards.

The only confirmed illness of which we are aware is limited to visitors of Starlight Pool. But swimmers from Starlight may have visited other city pools and some city lifeguards from Starlight work at several different city pools.

Because so many of our swimmers are children, we want to be very cautious and safe, and go above and beyond. We are therefore closing all of the city’s 29 pools for testing and treatment.

All of the pools were closed tonight and the treatment will work as follows. Parks staff is super-chlorinating all of the pools to a level of 40 parts per million of chlorine and maintaining that level of chlorine for 40 hours. The Centers for Disease Control recommends 20 parts per million, but just to be safe, we are using 40 parts per million.

Additionally, the city’s Water Department is taking samples tonight from Starlight and nearby pools and testing them for crypto. Those test results should be known in about 48 hours.

This is a good lesson for all of us. The CDC recommends that if you have symptoms of intestinal illness, such as diarrhea, vomiting, or stomach cramps, do not go swimming – in a public pool or private pool.

Again, we believe this is an isolated incident at Starlight Pool, but the safety of the public is our top priority."

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April Charlton, Senior Staff Writer for the Santa Maria Times, had some bad news for California's central coast over the 4th of July weekend. She reported:

Intestinal parasites were found south of Pismo Pier and in the Cypress Street lagoon at the mouth of Pismo Creek, according to an ongoing water quality study by Pismo Beach.

Researchers have found both cryptosporidium and Giardia in samples recently taken from the lagoon and 40 feet south of Pismo Pier, said Cal Poly professor Christopher Kitts, who is heading up the study, along with other Cal Poly professors and students.

Pismo Beach is using a more than $660,000 state grant to fund the detailed study, which is a first-of-its-kind DNA tracking project that aims to identify the source of ocean pollution at the beach.

Ingesting either of the parasites - cryptosporidium or Giardia, which are also considered pathogens - can cause an otherwise healthy person to develop intestinal problems such as diarrhea.

All of the pathogens tested for in water samples taken since mid-May have been found, but, there's been no evidence so far of human contamination, Kitts said.

“That's pretty positive news,” he added.

As we remember it, the waters 40 feet south of Pismo Pier are deep and cold.  Surfers there must know how to keep their mouths shut.  Read the rest here.

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Cresco, Iowa, population 3,905, located in Howard County on the border with Minnesota is one of those picture post card sort of small towns.   The Times Plain Dealer is a weekly newspaper that publishes on Wednesdays with a solid site on the web.

Sometimes its the small places that step up to big challenges.   Cresco is stepping up the fight against Cryptosporidium.  Times Dealer reporter Sara Daehn writes this week about the battle.

Record high cases of infections by the parasite Cryptosporidium throughout Iowa in 2007 and 2008 have prompted Cresco Fitness Center officials to discuss a plan in the event of a local outbreak.

Fitness center employees are working with Community Health Services/Howard County Public Health officials to develop the plan as well as ways to prevent an outbreak from occurring.

One of the most common waterborne diseases, Cryptosporidium, commonly known as crypto, is easily spread in recreational water, such as pools and rivers. The parasite is one of several Recreational Water Illnesses. Others include Giardia, Shigella and E. coli.

Although Howard County did not have any documented cases of Crypto in 2007 or so far in 2008, local officials agree it’s best to be prepared.

Crypto struck 937 Iowans last year.  Most were age 4 and under.

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State and local health departments and the Centers for Disease Control investigated a historic high number of illnesses involving recreational waters last year. 

The upsurge is being driven by  Cryptosporidium ("Crypto").   Its a chlorine resistant parasite found in recreational waters including swimming pools and parks. 

"Crypto" gets into recreational waters from babies and older swimmers with diarrhea.  Other swimmers then swallow the contaminated waters, spreading the disease.

CDC wants to educate the public about the threat  of "Crypto"  to all those who are about to enjoyed the nation's swimming pools and parks.   So, May 19-25, 2008 is being celebrated as "National Recreational Water Illness Prevention Week."

The annual event is held the week before Memorial Day Weekend, the traditional start of summer.  CDC is using the week to get out its  three "pleas" to swimmers and parents in hopes of controlling the quick-spreading parasite this summer.  Here they are:

Three "PLEAs" for All Swimmers

Practice these three "PLEAs" to stop germs from causing illness at the pool:

 

Please don't swim when you have diarrhea. You can spread germs in the water and make other people sick. This is especially important for kids in diapers.

Please don't swallow the pool water. In fact, avoid getting water in your mouth.

Please practice good hygiene. Take a shower before swimming and wash your hands after using the toilet or changing diapers. Germs on your body end up in the water.

Three "PLEAs" for Parents of Young Kids

 

Follow these three "PLEAs" to keep germs out of the pool and your community:

Please take your kids on bathroom breaks or check diapers often. Waiting to hear "I have to go" may mean that it's too late.

Please change diapers in a bathroom or a diaper-changing area and not at poolside. Germs can spread to surfaces and objects in and around the pool and cause illness.

Please wash your child thoroughly (especially the rear end) with soap and water before swimming. Everyone has invisible amounts of fecal matter on their bottoms that ends up in the pool.

CDC has lot's more more available here.

 

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As regular readers will know, we've been following the reaction of local and state governments in Utah the likelihood that last summer's Crytosporidium outbreak will return this year.   Latest to do something is the City of Provo.  The Salt Lake Tribune reports:

Provo will spend $200,000 to add high-tech equipment to fight cryptosporidium at swimming pools. 
Utah had more than 1,900 cases of crypto last year. It can spread in water contaminated with human feces and cause diarrhea and other problems. 
The ultraviolet disinfectant systems will be installed at the Veterans Memorial Pool and Waterslide Park complex and at the Provo Recreation Center. 
The equipment works by shining rays on water as it circulates through the system. It can take 24 hours to clean a pool, and there still can be some water that doesn't pass through the system. 
Salt Lake County is trying a similar strategy.

Find the story here.

Check out the comments there too.  Someone is suggesting Provo start taxing diapers to pay for  the improvements!

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Cryptosporidium parvum (also known as "Crypto") is a parasite that is too small to be seen with the naked eye. It is found in water and food sources contaminated with the feces of infected humans, cattle, and other mammals. The infectious form of the parasite, known as an ìoocyst, it is highly resistant to the levels of chlorine normally found in drinking water and swimming pools.

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