Santa Cruz Pool Reopens After 'Crypto' Parasite Closure

SANTA CRUZ, CA - A swim center just outside Santa Cruz reopened Thursday after a temporary closure earlier this month after two young people with cryptosporidium infection visited the pool, county officials said.

The Simpkins Family Swim Center, located at 979 17th Ave., was cleaned after two children went inside one of four pools at the facility on July 13, county officials said.

The center was scheduled to reopen at 4 p.m. today,according to the county's website.

The young visitors had cryptosporidium, also known as "Crypto," a parasite that can show up in water, food or soil or dirty hands that made contact with a person or animal carrying the parasite, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Symptoms of cryptosporidium infection include watery diarrhea, stomach pain, dehydration and nausea that typically last for one to two weeks, according to the CDC.

The infection's incubation period could range between one and 12 days, county officials said.

Anyone who visited the center and is experiencing the symptoms is asked to notify their primary care provider, according to county officials.

Authorities from the county's Department of Parks, Open Space and Cultural Services decided to close all the facility's pools as a precaution, county officials said.

The pools underwent hyperchlorination, a process in which the chlorine levels are increased above normal levels for more than 12 hours to remove the risk of other visitors contracting the disease, according to county officials.

-Bay City News, image via Anuradha Sengupta/Flickr