No signs of illness-causing parasite in Yuma's public pools

Yuma's public pools are not contaminated with the illness-causing parasite that recently forced all public pools in Phoenix to close down, says a Yuma County health official.

Health officials are on the lookout for any cases of people stricken with the intestinal parasite cryptosporidium, but so far they haven't had any, said Brian O'Green, the county's environmental health manager

But people who are feeling sick or have an upset stomach should refrain from swimming in public pools, he added.

For the 15 years O'Green has been working for the Yuma County Health Department, he said, to his knowledge there has never been an illness-causing outbreak in Yuma-area public pools.

"We do pool inspections four times a year and we rarely had any complaints. Yuma public pools do a really good job."

Recently, Maricopa County health officials closed down all 29 Phoenix public pools due to an outbreak of cryptosporidium, which is known to cause severe diarrhea in humans. All have since reopened.

But the chances of the intestinal parasite hitting Yuma public pools look slim because the only way an individual could get infected is if a person swallows contaminated water where an infected person is swimming, O'Green said. The microscopic amoeba is naturally found in the environment and in animals, he said, and illness is transmitted through contact with feces tainted with the parasite.

"That's why people should practice good personal hygiene and it's required that people take a shower before entering the pool," O'Green said.

The illness can not be transmitted through skin contact, he said.

The county public health department does not routinely test for microscopic threats such as cryptosporidium because they are difficult to detect and it requires intense expensive lab testing, O'Green said. Even then, it's not even a guarantee of finding the microscopic amoeba, he said.

"The only thing you can do is identify folks that start showing up sick and then go ahead and treat the pool heavily. The bad news, it's really hard to detect and in most instances, it's when people are showing up in the emergency room with the symptoms."

The basic killer for any hazardous aquatic organisms is chlorine, he said. However, in certain cases like the one in Phoenix's public pools, it won't be enough and that's when the pools are closed and hyperchlorinated for two days.

O'Green pointed out that people should be wary of pool areas that are not inspected by the county public health department.

Elvia Portrillo, regional supervisor at River Parks Apartment in Yuma, said they make sure their pool is kept clean.

"The county health department inspects our pool twice a month," Portrillo said. "We do have showers available for the men and women before they go into the pool" to rinse off any potential contaminants.

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Stephanie Sanchez can be reached at ssanchez@yumasun.com or 539-6847.