Pool parasite likely to return in 2008

Another cryptosporidium outbreak likely will strike the state next year, the Utah County Board of Health warned Monday during its monthly meeting.

So far this year there have been more than 1,600 statewide reports of illnesses caused by cryptosporidium, a parasite that often spreads in swimming pools. Joseph Miner, the board's executive secretary, said more of the same should be expected in 2008.

"It really exploded this year," he said. "Once you have a bad year, it takes a while to control it."

Miner said the county will take aggressive measures to keep the parasite at bay next year, just as it did this year.

The Utah Department of Health on Aug. 28 urged all public swimming pools to ban children under age 5 as a way to stop the spread of cryptosporidium, which can cause severe cases of diarrhea. Miner said the board will discuss today whether it needs to extend that ban.

Miner said the Utah County Health Department responded to the outbreak by pumping "super levels" of chlorine into all county pools to eliminate the hard-shelled parasite.

"It requires a lot higher levels (of chlorine) to kill it really fast," he said. "But those levels are unacceptable to humans, too."

Once a week, certified operators closed the county's pools and flushed them with 20 parts per million of chlorine. The rest of the week, Miner said, they kept the level at five parts per million. The typical level for a swimming pool is two parts per million.

While the county will continue to work to contain the parasite, Miner asked community members to do their part.

"Parents really should give their kids a bathroom break every hour while at the pool," he said.

Miner added Utah wasn't the only state to experience significant outbreaks of cryptosporidium. Half a dozen other states have had problems with the parasite, including Idaho.

"It's not unique to Utah," he said.

Joan Baldwin, vice chairman of the Utah County board, said she recently returned from a cruise and saw several posted warnings about the parasite near pools.

• The health board also reported Monday that the number of cases of West Nile virus in Utah was significantly smaller this year.

Robert Mower, mosquito abatement manager for the Utah County Health Department, said there were 153 confirmed cases — including 65 in Utah County — of West Nile virus in the state during 2006. This year, there were only 43 confirmed cases in Utah and only one of those was reported in Utah County.

This summer, Mower's crew air-sprayed more than 63,000 acres of land, and the number of mosquitoes they monitored dropped from 80,869 in 2005 to 42,226 in 2007.

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