Tag Archives: Water

Campylobacter outbreak from city water in Køge, Denmark

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Don’t connect drinking water pipes to the pipe for contaminated water from the treatment plant: That’s what happened in the Danish town of Køge in 2007 when at least 120 people fell ill.

Residents are once again being asked to boil water after 45 people reported diarrhea and severe stomach cramps. Inspectors are in the process of determining the source of the present contamination.

According to Berlingske Tidende newspaper, businesses and public institutions that use water in the preparation of food are also being contacted by regional food authorities for instructions on how to deal with the current situation.

Poop in the public pool

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Chapman already e-mailed me today to say in was 90F in Raleigh, North Carolina, and he was working with his laptop in some nice area of town. It’s going to be 90F here in Manhattan (Kansas) tomorrow, but the new public pool at the park down the street with the psychedelic water slide configuration won’t be open for a few months (whoever designed the Escher-like system of slides and pools was clearly on something).

As summertime pools open, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention decided to remind Americans that 1-in-8 public pools were closed after 120,000 routine inspections of public pools in 2008, and that many kids were swimming in poop.

From the CDC report summary:

Swimming is the third most popular U.S. sport or exercise activity, with approximately 314 million visits to recreational water venues, including treated venues (e.g., pools), each year (1). The most frequently reported type of recreational water illness (RWI) outbreak is gastroenteritis, the incidence of which is increasing (2). During 1997–2006, chlorine- and bromine-susceptible pathogens (e.g., Shigella and norovirus) caused 24 (23%) of 104 treated venue–associated RWI outbreaks of gastroenteritis, indicating lapses in proper operation of pools (2). Pool inspectors help minimize the risk for RWIs and injuries by enforcing regulations that govern public treated recreational water venues.

To assess pool code compliance, CDC analyzed 2008 data from 121,020 routine pool inspections conducted by a convenience sample of 15 state and local agencies. Because pool codes and, therefore, inspection items differed across jurisdictions, reported denominators varied. Of 111,487 inspections, 13,532 (12.1%) resulted in immediate closure because of serious violations (e.g., lack of disinfectant in the water). Of 120,975 inspections, 12,917 (10.7%) identified disinfectant level violations.

Although these results likely are not representative of all pools in the United States, they suggest the need for increased public health scrutiny and improved pool operation. The results also demonstrate that pool inspection data can be used as a potential source for surveillance to guide resource allocation and regulatory decision-making. Collecting pool inspection data in a standardized, electronic format can facilitate routine analysis to support efforts to reduce health and safety risks for swimmers.

10 years after E. coli O157:H7 in Walkerton, Ontario water

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On Sunday, May 21, 2000, at 1:30 p.m., the Bruce Grey Owen Sound Health Unit in Ontario, Canada, posted a notice to hospitals and physicians on their web site to make them aware of a boil water advisory and that a suspected agent in the increase of diarrheal cases was E. coli O157:H7.

There had been a marked increase in illness in the town of about 5,000 people, and many were already saying the water was suspect. But the first public announcement was also the Sunday of the Victoria Day long weekend and received scant media coverage.

It wasn’t until Monday evening that local television and radio began reporting illnesses, stating that at least 300 people in Walkerton were ill.

At 11:00 a.m., on Tuesday May 23, the Walkerton hospital jointly held a media conference with the health unit to inform the public of outbreak, make the public aware of the potential complications of the E. coli O157:H7 infection, and to tell the public to take the necessary precautions. This generated a print report in the local paper the next day, which was picked up by the national wire service Tuesday evening, and subsequently appeared in papers across Canada on May 24.

Ultimately, 2,300 people were sickened and seven died. All the gory details and mistakes and steps for improvement were outlined in the report of the Walkerton inquiry.

15 now sick with Campylobacter from Utah water

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The Utah County Health Department, along with UDOH, UDEQ, and Saratoga Springs, reports 15 lab confirmed cases of campylobacter.

The City of Saratoga Springs is continuing to take water samples to test for coliform bacteria and continuing to add chlorine to the drinking water supply to ensure safety. Water samples are also being collected and tested from the secondary water (pressurized irrigation) system.

7 sick from Campylobacter in Utah well water

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First raw milk, now the water in Utah is making people sick.

The Salt Lake City Tribune reports that a boil-water advisory will remain in effect for residents of Northern Saratoga Springs (right, exactly as shown) after at least seven people were stricken by Campylobacter.

Saratoga police spokesman Cpl. Aaron Rosen said the city is awaiting test results on a well believed to be the source of a campylobacter outbreak in the city. The city is treating the water with chlorine to kill the bacteria.

Mount Olympus Waters dispatched a 6,000-gallon tanker truck to provide free water for residents. The tanker is parked at Walmart, at Redwood Road and State Route 73.

Larry Mullenax, Mount Olympus vice president, said the company will provide two one-gallon containers of water per person. But if people bring their own containers, the company will fill them for free.

Walmart employees are staffing the tanker from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., he said.

14 sick with E. coli from water at Missouri sports complex

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Daughter Sorenne is comfortably sleeping through the night now, at 17-months-old, so I decided it was time to get off my lard ass and get moving again.

I like to rise early and bike about 15 miles (an hour) on my recumbent cycle (right, not exactly as shown) in the basement. I’ve got a table set up so I can use my computer, and I sweat volumes. I go through a couple of liters of water.

I’m confident in the municipal water supply because it is tested routinely. Bottled water is a complete waste. Except maybe if you work out at the Class Act Sports Complex, 2336 County Road 301, which is just outside the city of Jackson, Missouri.

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services reports that at least 14 people have fallen ill after drinking water at the sports complex. Four people have been hospitalized.

Officials with the Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center tested water from a drinking fountain and a faucet within the facility and confirmed the presence of E. coli in both samples. The sports complex, which is served by a private well, shut off its water last Thursday at the urging of local health officials.

It would be useful if the strain of E. coli was provided in future public announcements.

Shock and shame, Swedish version for clean water

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What has been called a disturbing but effective ad from the Church of Sweden, shows a mother filling a baby bottle with dirty dishwater and then feeding it to her child, to highlight the plight of countries worldwide that don’t have access to clean drinking water.

The campaign has raised over US$ 32,500 for church-sponsored water and sanitation projects but at the same time it has upset some Swedish viewers.

The reactions to the film have included criticism that the woman in the ad is white, giving the dirty water to a white baby. That was one reaction the [Church of Sweden] said it hadn’t expected.”

“Margareta Grape, the [Church of Sweden’s] foreign minister, said in a press statement that she believes people need thought-provoking and challenging images like those contained in the ad to wake up and realize that clean water issue are severe, but also that they can be solved."

Golfers file lawsuit against club because of watercooler full of feces and urine

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I really like Amy.

She’s annoying and neurotic, but no worse than me, and who isn’t?

So I won’t be going on the annual golf trip with the boys from Guelph. I went last year because it was part of a North Carolina road trip, but took Amy and Sorenne and spent the couple of days doing my best Herb Tarlek impersonation from the television show, WKRP in Cincinnati, with, “I thought we were supposed to bring our wives?”

When I do golf, I bring my own water, from the municipal tap.

Three golfers in Clearwater, Florida, have filed a lawsuit against Countryside Country Club, alleging they got sick from club watercoolers that contained "adulterated water." A press release from the Law Office of Tragos & Sartes indicates that the cooler on the golf course’s eighth hole was vandalized and contained feces and urine.

The lawsuit claims that on July 18, 2009, the men were golfing and drank from the water cooler. It was hot, so they said they were "guzzling" the water. Upon noticing an "unnatural taste," one of the plaintiffs opened the container and discovered urine and feces.

His son immediately "became ill and vomited on the tee box at hole number 8," while he and his father later developed fevers and other symptoms.

One way to avoid norovirus – don’t drink raw sewage

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A campground in New Zealand is set to reopen after a norovirus outbreak was linked to the camp’s water supply.

The Nelson Mail reports the outbreak of suspected norovirus at the Golden Bay Holiday Park may have been caused by sewage contaminating a creek running through the campground

During a routine bathing water survey of the area’s beaches a fortnight ago, Tasman District Council environmental protection officers found high levels of E.coli contamination at the mouth of the Tukurua Stream, which runs through the campground. The level was 700 most probable number (mpn).

Council environment planning officer Dennis Bush-King said a level of 240mpn would see the council start "intensive monitoring". At 500mpn, signs would go up warning people not to swim in the water.
 

1 dead, 2 sick in Florida after drinking contaminated hotel water

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A Miami hotel has been evacuated after 1 guest died and 2 more fell ill from drinking contaminated water.

The hotel in question here is the Luxury Epic Hotel in downtown Miami, home to more than 300 guests at the time of the evacuation.

On Sunday, all guests were relocated to surrounding hotels, following the discovery of the cluster of cases of people falling ill.

It is yet to be confirmed that there was Legionella bacteria in water at the hotel, but health officials are confident that this indeed is the problem.

The fatality was reported in a man who stayed at the hotel 3 months ago, and was recently just learned of by health officials.