The county health department is warning guests of Gaylord Pacific Resort in Chula Vista that they may have been exposed to the cryptosporidium parasite if they used the facility’s pools between July 24 and Aug. 15.
San Diego County’s public health lab is investigating four cases of cryptosporidiosis, often called “crypto,” among guests who swam in pools at the resort’s waterpark in late July and early August. As the parasite, which can be present in stool, is transmitted through water contact, public health officials sent a notice dated Sept. 2 to all patrons known to be present on the indicated dates.
Copies of the notice surfaced online Thursday, and a county public health communications director confirmed Friday morning that the notice is authentic.
Crypto, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, most often causes diarrhea, and symptoms often appear between two and 10 days after infection, which usually occurs after a person swallows water with the parasite present. For healthy patients, illness generally resolves without major medical consequences. However, infection can be much more serious for those with compromised immune systems.
It was not clear Friday whether any of the four cases mentioned in the county notice became severely ill.
The resort did not respond Friday morning to requests for comment.
Controlling crypto, the county’s notice explains, can be difficult because the microscopic organism “can survive in aquatic environments and may be transmitted among swimmers even when pools and other water features are properly operated and maintained, including when chlorine levels are consistently met.”
Cryptosporidium is distinct from cyclospora cayetanensis, the parasite that has caused increased reports of gastrointestinal illness nationwide this summer, including those linked to an ongoing multistate outbreak linked to iceberg lettuce.