Parasite detected in city water

Jamie PharesJamie PharesThe Daily Pennsylvanian The parasite, called Cryptosporidium, is found in very small amounts and will only hurt individuals with extremely weakened immune systems -- such as those with the AIDS virus. According to Bob Levenson, director of disease control for the Philadelphia Health Department, the bug has been in the water intermittently for months but has only recently come to the attention of the public. Cryptosporidium originates in animal waste from farms in the Delaware Valley, which travels to Philadelphia via the Schuylkill and Delaware Rivers. Once it is in the city's water supply, it is extremely hard to filter out because of its relatively small size, Levenson said. Jennifer Aldrich, an infectious disease fellow at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, said a reasonably healthy person can drink as much water as they want at no risk. But if a person with a weak immune system -- perhaps as a result of a large amount of chemotherapy or the AIDS virus -- drinks a large amount of the water, he or she may acquire symptoms such as diarrhea, which are not easily treated, Aldrich said. Aldrich also told of a larger outbreak of the Cryptosporidium parasite in the Michigan water supply. She said that even with higher concentrations of the parasite only a few water drinkers were affected -- mainly with a week-long bout of diarrhea. Levenson said the parasite has been in the water for some months and if individuals have had no prior problems due to drinking water, they will definitely not be affected now. He does not recommend the University take any action against the virus. "People get the sense that this is something new and terrible that everyone has to be worried about," he said. "But that's not the case at all." Levenson said that the water is definitely safe to cook with, shower in and swim in, but those with vulnerable immune systems may want to filter their water with a submicron filter or boil it. Harriet Izenberg, the University's biological safety officer said she was completely unaware of any biological problem with the University's water supply. "It may not taste very good," she said. "But I've never heard of a problem."