Eye On Health

Report Still Pending For Burger's Lake

FORT WORTH (CBS 11 News) ― Health officials are still waiting for test results to determine if a private Tarrant County Lake is the source of an "illness outbreak."

The water from Burger's Lake, which is northeast of Fort Worth, is being tested for a bacteria known as cryptosporidiosis or "crypto."

As of July 22, 16 people are confirmed to have gotten cryptosporidiosis. Each of them said they swam in Burger's Lake.

Cryptosporidium is a parasite found in feces. A person can become sick if they swallow infected water causing symptoms that include diarrhea and nausea for up to two weeks.

Whether this lake is contaminated with crypto is still not known. Tarrant County health experts are waiting on lab results from the Centers for Disease Control.

Crypto can be treated in pools, but health experts say it's difficult to treat in sandy bottom lakes like Burger's.

Dr. Anita Kurian with the Tarrant County Health Department said it can live for several weeks and even up to several months. "It's pretty resistant to environmental conditions."

Burger's Lake is a park that features a one-acre spring-fed lake.  Health officials say the water is chlorinated, but not at the high concentrations needed to kill the cryptosporidium parasite.

Health experts said it's not uncommon for the parasite to live in lakes. What is uncommon is for there to be a lot of it -- enough to make nine people sick.

CBS 11 spoke with two people who fell ill after swimming there. Click here to see the interviews.

Tarrant County Public Health officials say if someone went swimming at Burger's Lake after June 21 and are experiencing diarrhea or other gastrointestinal symptoms, you should contact your doctor and get tested for cryptosporidiosis.

Tarrant County Health officials offer these guidelines to prevent infection:
Help protect yourself, your family and others in recreational swimming areas.
-- Do not swim when you are ill with diarrhea or for two weeks after your diarrhea has stopped.  Cryptosporidium is chlorine resistant.
-- Do not swallow the water when you swim or wade in pool/lake/river water. Avoid getting water in your mouth.
-- Practice good hygiene (i.e., shower before swimming).
-- Please take children on bathroom breaks or check diapers often.  Waiting to hear "I need to go," may mean that it is too late.
-- Please change diapers in a bathroom or a diaper-changing area and not at poolside.
-- Germs can be spread to surfaces and objects in and around the pool and cause illness.
-- Please wash children thoroughly (especially in the diaper region) with soap and water before swimming.

In household, day-care facilities and other settings, use proper hygiene.
-- Wash hands regularly, especially after using the bathroom and before preparing food.  Hand washing is the most effective means of preventing Cryptosporidium transmission. 
-- Observe children as they wash their hands and assist when needed.
-- Wash children's hands when they arrive at day care, after they use the toilet, after having their diaper changed and before eating snacks or meals.
-- Wash hands after changing diapers.
-- Take extra care to wash hands and clean surfaces if caring for someone with diarrhea, especially diaper-or-toddler-age children.

NOTE: Cryptosporidium is not killed by alcohol gels and hand sanitizers.  Soap and clean running water are specifically recommended for preventing cryptosporidiosis.

Click here for more information about cryptosporidiosis from the Centers For Disease Control.

(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

---