Illness forces pools to close

Hello everyone, Dallas and Atlanta recently had a similiar problem and now here is another in Ohio. Although this is considered an uncommon occurence it is happening more and more often. This is one of the few times you really have to shut down the pool.

Columbus orders chlorine blasts to kill tiny parasite
Thursday, August 14, 2008 7:32 PM
By Robert Vitale

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Columbus will shut down seven city-run swimming pools Friday for an extra shot of chlorine, the result of a summertime increase of cryptosporidium cases being tracked by local health officials. Columbus Public Health spokesman Jose Rodriguez said his department also will order all operators of large pools licensed by the city – public and private – to step up chlorination because of the water-borne parasite. Health officials still are tabulating the number of cryptosporidium cases they’ve seen recently and are “not calling it an outbreak yet,” Rodriguez said. Cryptosporidium causes diarrhea, vomiting and stomach pain in people who ingest the parasite. Rodriguez said last night that he was unsure whether central Ohio cases have been traced to a specific source, although he said drinking water is highly unlikely. Cryptosporidium is found in the feces of contaminated people or animals. According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, it can be spread through drinking water, swimming pools and rivers and other natural waters. Regular chlorination doesn’t necessarily kill cryptosporidium, the CDC says. The Columbus Public Health order, though, will tell pool operators to “hyper-chlorinate,” a longer process that involves larger concentrations of chlorine and higher temperatures during treatment. The seven city-run pools that will close Friday are: Dodge, 545 Sullivant Ave.; Fairwood, 1392 Fairwood Ave.; Lincoln, 1700 Ann St.; Marion-Franklin, 2699 Lockbourne Rd.; Maryland, 1380 Atcheson St.; Tuttle, 240 W. Oakland Ave.; and Windsor, 1300 Windsor Ave. All will open again on Saturday, Recreation and Parks Department officials said. The department also will shut down a swimming pool at Indian Village Day Camp at Griggs Reservoir and the sprayground in Barnett Park, 1184 Barnett Rd., for treatment on Saturday. The sprayground will reopen on Sunday; the Indian Village pool on Monday. Rodriguez said the city order is going out because children are prone to gulp a mouthful of pool water as they play. With so many heading back to school over the coming weeks, an outbreak would have the potential to multiply quickly. “We’re trying to be proactive,” he said. Central Ohio already has battled two other outbreaks of illness with similar symptoms this summer. Since June, Columbus Public Health has tallied more than 200 cases of shigellosis, a bacterial infection that also can be transmitted through swimming pools. An E. coli outbreak in May and June sickened dozens in Ohio and Michigan. That illness was traced to tainted beef. The three aren’t related, Rodriguez said.

Fore more information visit the CDC web site