1,700+ In 20 NY Counties Sickened With Cryptosporidiosis From Water Park

[hatrack]

State health officials said yesterday that the number of people who contracted a severe intestinal illness from a play area with sprinklers at Seneca Lake State Park in Geneva, N.Y., has soared to more than 1,700.

The outbreak of the disease, a parasitic waterborne infection called cryptosporidiosis, began about two months ago among visitors to the state park but went unnoticed until earlier this week, health officials said. Almost all those who were infected had spent time at a popular water attraction, the Sprayground, and were exposed to tainted water.

As of yesterday, the illness had quickly spread to at least 20 counties and sickened 1,738 people, far surpassing the roughly 500 cases that are seen annually and becoming one of the largest outbreaks of cryptosporidiosis in the state's history. Still, health officials continued to stress last night that none of the infected were known to be critically ill, and that cases were likely to start tapering off. "Many people who reported illness have fully recovered and those who are now experiencing sickness are advised to seek medical attention," a state health department spokesman, Rob Kenny, said.

On Monday, the Sprayground, a popular spot for families and day camps that gets about 40,000 visitors every August, was closed for the rest of the summer by park officials. They decided to close after health officials, acting on reports of a surge in cases of cryptosporidiosis from four counties, determined that the water might be contaminated. After an investigation, they found two separate tanks that feed the play area with water from a nearby town contained water tainted with protozoa that cause cryptosporidiosis. But they have not figured out how the parasites survived in the tanks, both equipped with chlorination and filtration systems.

EDIT

Hmm . . . could it be that maybe, just maybe, this particular protozoan is resistant to chlorine?

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/20/nyregion/20sick.html

[kestrel91316]

1. This is the same bug that got into Milwaukee, WI's water supply a few

years back and wreaked such havoc. I think almost everybody in the MW metro area caught it.