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Debbie Dujanovic reporting
Produced by Kelly JustHealth officials are sounding the alarm -- the crippling parasite, cryptosporidium will be back in spring. When it swept through local pools last summer, 2,000 Utahns became sick.
Cryptosporidium thrives in H2O. The only way to stop the spread is to stay out of the water. Area health departments issued mandatory orders to protect swimmers. But Eyewitness News is exposing a city that did not follow the rules and failed to warn its customers.
The Broomheads had no idea what they were getting into when they took the plunge at the Spanish Fork pool last August. Jenni Broomhead had reserved the place for a big family reunion.
"We had people from New Jersey, people from California, people from Idaho," said Broomhead.
Forty of the 47 who swam that day returned home with cryptosporidium.
"All these people were spreading it all over the country?" asked Dujanovic.
"Well, even to China," replied Broomhead.
In New Jersey, a 2-year-old nephew had diarrhea for 27 days.
"He was getting dehydrated. He was losing weight," said Broomhead. "At one point he was going through four to six diapers per hour."
The Broomheads filed a claim against Spanish Fork, asking the city to cover the group's medical costs.
The city denied that request in a letter. It stated that Spanish Fork is not liable because there is not enough evidence to pin the problem on the city. The letter also made it seem like the Utah County Health Department (UCHD) agreed and was siding with the city. Finally, it said they couldn't find anyone else who swam on the same day as the Broomheads who also got sick. The Broomheads didn't believe the letter. Neither did Eyewitness News.
Mark Holley's entire family went swimming the very same day as the Broomheads.
You were actually there the day this family was there?" asked Dujanovic. "Yes I was," replied Holley.
The Holleys too, were diagnosed with cryptosporidium.
"It really felt like the flu. It was the worst flu I'd ever had," said Holley.
Eyewitness News tracked down a third family that swam that same day and ended up with cryptosporidium. We were also able to document even more cases from other days. In addition, we obtained a Utah County Health report that reveals the UCHD did not side with Spanish Fork.
In fact, when discussing the Spanish Fork pool, UCHD official Ron Tobler told us just the opposite.
"There was more risk there than there needed to be," he said.
Why? The week before the families went swimming, Tobler's department ordered all public pools in the county to post a warning, telling sick swimmers to stay out of the pool.
"It was our attempt to educate the public and say, 'Look, if you've had diarrhea, stay out of the pool for two weeks because you will make other people sick,'" said Tobler.
The UCHD investigated the cryptosporidium problem in Spanish Fork and found that the pool decided not to post the sign. The city says that instead, pool staff read the warning over the loud speaker. UCHD couldn't find anyone who heard that happen.
When employees complained about diarrhea, the UCHD report shows senior pool staff diagnosed them with the flu or heat stroke. Clarissa Broomhead is Jenni's daughter and a swim instructor at the Spanish Fork pool. She said she witnessed some of those exchanges.
According to Clarissa, "People would come in and say ‘I don't feel well. I don't think I should swim today.'" She said the staff response was, "Oh you're fine. Get in the pool."
Spanish Fork Assistant City Manager, Seth Perrins, denies pool staff did any diagnosing.
"Did we put the public at risk?" wondered Perrins. "Certainly no more than the public themselves did if they were sick and came into any pool."
Dujanovic told Perrins that swimmers who got cryptosporidium said if they had seen a warning sign, they would have stayed away.
"Like I said, we did read the information," said Perrins.
"But it says here, on the health department order the sign must be posted," said Dujanovic.
"We didn't post it at that time," said Perrins. "We posted it later."
The sign went up weeks later, only after the health department had traced cryptosporidium to the Spanish Fork pool.
The Broomheads think there's something else going on with Spanish Fork.
When asked if she thought there was a cover-up, Broomhead replied, "I think it was covered up."
We asked the assistant city manager the same thing. He said, "Absolutely not."
Why would Spanish Fork disobey a health department order? The pool is very popular and generates money for the city. Spanish Fork denies that had anything to do with it.
The Broomheads are not convinced. They believe there was a deliberate effort to mislead people. Their evidence? The UCHD "official" the city claims to have talked to in its original denial letter, does not exist. The Broomheads are going to sue Spanish Fork.
