Aug 08, 2022 14:00:00

``Don't put the water in the fountain in your mouth,'' the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns

The average annual temperature of the world is rising year by year, and it is clear that the earth is getting hotter. In order to stay cool in the heat, you may see children playing in park fountains, but the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warns, ``Don't put the fountain water in your mouth.''

Fecal fountains: CDC warns of diarrheal outbreaks linked to poopy splash pads | Ars Technica
https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/08/fecal-fountains-cdc-warns-of-diarrheal-outbreaks-linked-to-poopy-splash-pads/

In the first week of August 2022, the CDC reported a case of acute gastrointestinal illness in people who entered a fountain at a wildlife park in Kansas, USA. At least 27 people were infected with different pathogens such as shigella and norovirus in June 2021 at the park's fountains. Ars Technica of overseas media points out that although there are circumstances unique to this case, it can be said that it is a case that highlights the risks of facilities such as parks, which are public places.

Public water bodies, such as interactive fountains, usually do not have a 'pool area'. As such, the CDC notes that these facilities do not meet the definition of ``water facilities'' in the United States and may be exempt from public health laws. According to the CDC, ``facilities that use water where no standing water areas exist,'' such as interactive fountains, are not always regulated and are always required to disinfect the water with a disinfectant. It's not like there is.'

In other words, in the United States, 'facilities that use water without standing water areas' do not have an appropriate sanitary system, so excrement is immersed in water through diapers worn by children. There is a risk that it will flow out and cause an infection from here. Children often take water in their mouths while bathing in fountains, so the fecal route is completed at record speed.

A new report produced by the CDC and Kansas health officials refers to a 2010 paper that says, 'Children wear diapers and sit on fountains with open mouths facing the water.' In addition to this, the CDC points out the existence of a risk that the free chlorine concentration in the water will decrease due to the aerosolization of the water in the process of the water being pumped up by the fountain.

A fountain at a wildlife park in Kansas also reveals that people were visiting animal exhibits, including lemurs, before bathing. In the cases reported by the CDC, one of the causes of the infection is said to be 'Shigella', and non-human primates such as lemurs are known to be the only reservoirs of Shigella. .

However, the report concluded that touching or feeding the lemurs did not cause the infection with Shigella, instead 'playing in the fountain or drinking water from the fountain.' It has been pointed out that this is the cause of infectious diseases. In addition, among the people who got infected at the fountain in the wildlife park in Kansas, three children were infected with Shigella and were hospitalized, but fortunately all three had symptoms. recovering from

Another norovirus outbreak has also occurred at a fountain at a wildlife park in Kansas. Six people were infected in this outbreak, and the infected people ranged in age from 1 to 38 years old. In addition, all six infected people reported that ``water entered the mouth at the fountain''.

In addition, several people who visited a fountain in a wildlife park in Kansas have reported being infected with acute gastrointestinal disease, and the fountain will be closed at a later date.

Kansas health officials have investigated the park's fountains and found that the park's water is not continuously circulated, filtered, chlorinated or spouted, but instead left overnight in a collection tank after being chlorinated. It became clear. Also, the fountains do not have automatic controllers to measure and maintain free chlorine concentrations necessary to prevent transmission by pathogens, and some park operators have documentation that they have completed training. It is also clear that there was no staff.

In addition, the CDC advises people who play in water places such as fountains, 'Do not enter the water if you are sick with diarrhea, etc.', 'Do not stand or sit on the fountain', and 'Drink the water from the fountain Please don't,' he warns.