1,800 infected; water park blamed (NY state)

Nearly 1,800 people from 20 New York counties have reported symptoms of a gastrointestinal illness related to a water attraction at Seneca Lake State Park in upstate New York, according to the New York State Department of Health and New York State Parks Department.

Thirteen cases have been confirmed by state and private labs as cryptosporidiosis, a diarrheal disease caused by the parasite Cryptosporidium. Its tough outer shell allows the parasite to resist disinfectants such as chlorine.

While the most common symptom is diarrhea, other symptoms include dehydration, stomach cramps, weight loss, fever, nausea and vomiting. Symptoms typically begin within days of exposure and usually last for two weeks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

While the CDC is not involved in the ongoing investigation, New York's health department is consulting with them.

Earlier article only mentioned hundreds.

Water Park Closes After Hundreds Fall Ill

Seneca Lake Park's Sprayground, which has water jets shooting up from a hardtop surface, was closed after tests showed the tank system that feeds the water jets was contaminated with a common waterborne disease called cryptosporidiosis.

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Water sprayground in Gonzales, Louisiana closed after illness reported

GONZALES, La. Gonzales officials and the state Department of Health and Hospitals have shut down a sprayground at Jambalaya Park after several people reported contracting a parasite.

Though there's no evidence yet that the water park is the source of the parasite, D-H-H spokesman Bob Johannessen says visiting the area is one thing all the victims have in common.

Although the Cryptosporidium parasite is present worldwide, it's occurrence in the U.S. has increased dramatically in recent years. From the CDC website: "During the past two decades, crypto has become recognized as one of the most common causes of waterborne disease within humans in the United States." The organism is even more prevalent in 3rd world countries and commonly infects their water supplies.

The increasing incidence in the U.S. of diseases common in developing nations (TB, crypto, bed bugs in motels, etc.) has failed to arouse the interest of public health officials and politicians because to make this an issue would be politically incorrect. However, it is obvious that the porous borders we endure here will lead to a lower quality of life for everyone in this country.

Maybe no one cares, and the outcome of this will be the same as for the HIV virus. Instead of being treated as a public health problem with the object being to treat and isolate the source, AIDS became EVERYONE'S problem. It is the individual health care provider and citizen's responsibility to not contract it. Of course, in the situation of HIV, there is no longer any alternative. Things spiraled out of control the minute HIV became a political versus a public issue. The spread of 3rd world diseases will be the same.

In a discussion with one of my grandsons, he mentioned that he gsometimes peed in his pool. I asked did he like swimming in it and he said well he only did it in a corner sometimes.

I again stressed that he was swimming in it and in the same from any other children in the public pools. Was that what they wanted - to swim in it?

Think this comes from the oft repeated "well, the chemicals take care of it". I don't care how many chemicals there are in the water, I do not want to swim in anyone's pee.

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