Health Department reports no signs of crypto in pools this year

Ace Stryker

It's two months into the summer swimming season, and there are no signs of the diarrhea-causing parasite cryptosporidium in Utah County's public pools, according to the county Health Department.

Spokesman Lance Madigan said there were two or three confirmed cases in March, but there was no link to public water facilities. Rather, experts suspect that the bug was passed by a family pet to the victims, who all lived together. Beyond that, several people have reported to doctors with concerns about having contracted cryptosporidiosis, the infection resulting from exposure, but no cases have been confirmed, he said. Madigan attributes the county's success so far to a higher level of awareness than last year, when a record 464 cases cropped up in the county.

"We seem to be getting the message out," Madigan said. "There is a lot of talk. A lot of people either had crypto last year or had a family member that did, and so everybody's being careful."

State health officials have been spending heavily to get that message out: After last year's outbreak, in which almost 2,000 people got sick statewide, state and local authorities have spent millions on advertising and new technology to fight crypto in pools. Ultraviolet sanitation systems have been installed in dozens of pools around the state, including some in Provo, Orem, Springville and Lehi.

Madigan said it's a combination of the public education efforts and UV systems that seems to be keeping the bug at bay -- but, he conceded, it was early August last year before the county was aware that the bug had been around since June.

There have been several incidents of "accidental fecal release" in county pools this summer already, Madigan said. But that is relatively routine, and there is no evidence that crypto was introduced into the water during any of those, he said.

"Actually, we have those on a fairly regular basis," he said. "We've gotten some guidelines and some protocols from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on what to do, and so they will clear a pool, treat it, and depending on the type of release, they'll close the pool for 30 minutes or 24 hours."

Meredith Jones, a shift supervisor at the Springville City Pool, said the staff there has responded to several accidents in the pool, but they do not have any reason to be concerned about a crypto outbreak. The UV system there has been running for about a month, and customers are noticing the difference, she said -- especially since the pool now only needs about a fifth as much chlorine as it once did to stay clean.

"We have had a lot of people say that they like it better because it's not as hard on their skin and their hair," she said.

To prevent a crypto outbreak, the county Health Department recommends not swimming within two weeks of having diarrhea. The department is also asking young children to wear special swim diapers to prevent fecal waste from leaking into the water.

• Ace Stryker can be reached at 344-2556 or at astryker@heraldextra.com.