I do miss our trips to Florida, but not the 24-hour drives, and Brisbane is like the Tampa of Australia, so it doesn’t suck.

Unless you get Cryptosproidium.

The Florida Health Department has issued a health alert for Pinellas County – which includes St. Petersburg and Clearwater — after 58 cases of a parasitic illness have been reported.

Cryptosporidium is a parasite found in contaminated water, and can make people very sick. Symptoms include severe cramps, diarrhea and vomiting.

“It really has to do with coming in contact with contaminated fecal matter where this parasite lives,” said Maggie Hall from the FDOH in Pinellas County.

Cryptosporidium spreads easily in water. Half the cases have come from public pools and water parks in Pinellas, so the facilities were alerted. Northwest Pool shut down as a precaution and is being tested after a child who may have visited there came down with the illness.