Prepare to be grossed out by this stomach-churning tale from the world of college swimming. It turns out that no matter how skilled or fast the swimmers are, the real winner of the meet is always the gastrointestinal pathogen that finds its way into the pool.
In a nauseating outbreak investigation, health officials discovered the spread of the water-based intestinal parasite Cryptosporidium (also known as crypto) among several college swim teams. The case involved a stroke of luck: health officials were able to identify the crypto relatively quickly. However, it wasn’t fast enough to prevent the parasite from infecting members of another college’s team, demonstrating just how easily and rapidly it could have spread without intervention.
The investigation also emphasized the importance of promoting healthy swimming practices, including advising individuals with diarrhea not to swim and to avoid swallowing pool water to prevent waterborne diseases. These findings were published in a case report by health officials in Massachusetts, which appeared in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
The story begins earlier this year when competitive swimmers from a Massachusetts-based college traveled to Puerto Rico for a week of training. During their trip, the swimmers took a dip in a training pool, a waterfall, and the ocean. It’s unclear where they encountered the nasty parasite, but three days after returning, the swimmers’ health took a nosedive. In the end, 19 out of 50 members of the men’s and women’s swim teams fell ill.
Despite the intestinal turmoil, the swim teams continued with their training and meet schedule, even with some members experiencing stomach troubles. Within a week of their return, the swimmers had two separate meets: one against a New York-based team five days after returning and another against a Rhode Island-based team the following day.
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With swimmers sprinting to the bathrooms, officials from the Massachusetts college contacted the state’s health department nine days after their return from Puerto Rico. By then, one swimmer had already tested positive for crypto. The health department wasted no time and immediately reached out to officials in Puerto Rico, New York, and Rhode Island.
Unfortunately, it was too late to prevent all of the spread. Two swimmers from the Rhode Island team fell ill with crypto seven days after their meet with the Massachusetts team. Testing revealed that the subtypes of crypto in the Rhode Island swimmers matched those found in the Massachusetts team.
Cryptosporidium is highly contagious, especially in pools. An infected person can release 10 million to 100 million parasites in a single bowel movement, and ingesting just 10 parasites is enough to trigger a new infection. Symptoms include watery diarrhea, nausea, stomach pain and cramps, vomiting, fever, and dehydration. The infection typically lasts a few weeks for healthy individuals, but it can be more severe and potentially fatal for those with weakened immune systems.
While crypto can spread through various means of fecal contamination, recreational water poses a particular problem. The parasite has a tough outer shell that makes it highly resistant to chlorine. It can survive in a properly chlorinated pool for over seven days and is not effectively killed by hand sanitizers.
During the outbreak investigation, the Massachusetts health department closed the college’s swimming pool and hired a contractor to sanitize it with a hyperchlorinated treatment.
In the end, the health officials overseeing the investigation narrowly avoided a disaster. They were able to identify the Rhode Island team’s infection before it could spread further. They noted that the potential for sustained Cryptosporidium transmission among competitive swimmers is a real concern due to regular intercollegiate competitions and subsequent championship schedules. Without early detection of crypto in one of the swimmers, the Massachusetts college may not have closed the pool, potentially leading to further transmission on campus.
In an unprecedented case, investigators have revealed evidence pointing to the transmission of an intestinal pathogen to members of a swim team, resulting in an unexpected outbreak of gastroenteritis.
The incident occurred during a swimming tournament in the Midwest, where many of the competing athletes had been returning from parts of the world where this particular illness had been circulating. The health officials identified the specific bug that had been spreading as Sapovirus, an intestinal infection that can cause severe gastrointestinal distress.
The most surprising aspect of the incident was how the pathogen had been spread. During the swim tournament, a water fountain shared by members of the two competing teams had been the source of the contamination.
The infected swimmer was reported to have been vomiting multiple times during the competition and was clearly in need of immediate medical care.
The team officials were unaware of the water fountain’s contamination, and all teammates and spectators were exposed to the virus before it was eventually shut down.
The virus was tracked back to a nearby water source, which had been contaminated by a sewage leakage. Health officials claim that the water fountain used by the team was never tested for such contaminants and was never maintained properly.
In response to the incident, a number of immediate measures have been introduced to prevent such an event from happening again. All water fountains in the stadium have been tested and maintained more frequently, while additional regulations have been put in place to ensure the safety of athletes.
The outbreak has been described as an unfortunate but teachable incident, warning us of the dangers that come with failing to maintain safe hygiene practices. It also serves as a reminder of the importance of staying vigilant in preventing the spread of illness among those who are participating in any activity that requires close physical contact.
