Elizabeth’s Hospitality Law Blog / by Elizabeth Ardanowski

If you are even moderately aware of current events, watch the news or read the paper, or have traveled to the DFW metroplex lately, you have probably heard of Cryptosporidium.  “What?” you say.  Cryptosporidium is a protozoan that can cause gastro-intestinal illness with diarrhea. Not a very sexy or fun thing to think about or talk about in the hospitality industry.  However, you need to know this. 

Lately, a large number of persons have become ill with cryptosporidosis after swimming (in natural or man-made locations) or playing in spray parks (you know – those popular places were water comes out of a faucet or tube and forms what is best described as a fountain that then drains into a pool or, more commonly, drains on the ground.  The water is then recycled through the system).  The primary use for a spray park is to cool off in the sweltering heat.  One such spray garden exists on the east side of Lake Ray Hubbard.  (I will note that I am not aware of reports or complaints of contamination or illness coming out of this spray park – I only use it as an example.)   

But why should you care??  A lot of hotels, entertainment venues, and multi-use facilities that often also have restaurants and bars have spray parks or are located on or near water, such as a pool or a lake.  Like any other water park attraction, the water has to be cleaned and monitored.  If you come down with cryptosporidosis, you have systems similar to food poisoning.  Now are you starting to understand the significance of this?

Say your hotel or restaurant (or both) is located in the fictional city of Bethtown, right in the middle of a multi-use development that has retail shopping, a bookstore, a coffee shop, several restaurants and bars, some apartments and lofts, a movie theatre, and a hotel.  In addition to the buildings, the hotel has a pool, and the development has a pedestrian friendly park area where some of the restaurants and bars have outdoor seating.  In the middle of the park is a spray garden or spray park because Bethtown is located in an area with oppressive summer heat.  Perhaps now you see where this is going. . .

Your customers perhaps shop a bit, see a movie, then decide to have a bite to eat or a refreshing drink at your restaurant or bar, or they are staying in your hotel where they stop to eat or order room service.  They allow their children to run through the spray park managed by the development to cool off, or they take a dip in the pool you meticulously maintain.  They then call it a day.  However, a little bit later they or their children suddenly get sick and feel like they have food poisoning.  Ahhhh, NOW you’re getting it! 

The ill customer then wonders “What did I eat?”  ”Where did I go?”   Well, they ate in your restaurant or bar, or stayed in your hotel and ordered room service.  And now they feel horrible.  Uh oh, you are quickly becoming the target of a food borne illness complaint or possibly lawsuit, depending on the severity of the illness and whether more than one person got sick in a short period of time who visited your restaurant, bar, or hotel.   Now I know you’re getting it. 

While the customer probably did not get sick at your establishment, cryptosporidosis appears at first like a case of food-poisoning, and so it is a natural assumption that YOUR food or drink caused the problem, and perhaps even was the cause of their high medical bill.  This is why you need to know about cryptosporidosis, how it is transmitted, and how you can help to insure that your establishment does not mistakenly get tagged for the illness.

Cryptosporidosis is spread typically by human contact (be it through a tame handshake or through the more racy sexual contact), but also is spread by ingestion of water that is carrying the cryptosporidium.  It is typically an acute short-term infection but can become severe in children and immunocompromised individuals. The parasite is transmitted by environmentally hardy cysts (oocysts) that, once ingested, excyst in the small intestine and result in an infection of intestinal epithelial tissue.

Cryptosporidium has a spore phase (oocyst) and in this state it can survive for lengthy periods outside a host, meaning it can exist for lengthy periods in a pool or lake.  It can also resist many common disinfectants, notably chlorine based disinfectants.

Many treatment plants that take raw water from rivers, lakes, and reservoirs for public drinking water production use conventional filtration technologies. This involves a series of processes including coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation, and filtration. Direct filtration, which is typically used to treat water with low particulate levels, includes coagulation and filtration but not sedimentation. Other common filtration processes including slow sand filters, diatomaceous earth filter and membranes will remove 99% of Cryptosporidium.  Membranes and bag and cartridge filters remove Cryptosporidium on a product-specific basis. With the proper concentrations and contact time, Cryptosporidium inactivation will occur with chlorine dioxide and ozone treatment. Additionally, ultraviolet light treatment at relatively low doses will inactivate Cryptosporidium.

So, now you are informed.  You should be worried that water contaminated with cryptosporidiosis is near your establishment, especially if somewhere in your establishment people are likely to be eating or drinking.

Here, in Dallas/Fort Worth, one spring-fed lake popular for swimming and escaping the heat was closed down for a while after it was discovered that the water was contaminated and several people had become ill.  Also, several public pools were closed for cleaning, and at least two private pools used by many people were closed for cleaning after cryptosporidiosis was detected in the water through testing done after the initial outbreak was reported.  The water in all pools was eventually cleaned and cleared, but it interrupted business, and more importantly, profits.

So, how does this impact you?  If you own or work in a hotel – this could easily arise because you have a pool that is contaminated.  However, it will most likely present as a claim for food-born illness coming our of a restaurant, bar, or room service.  You can be proactive in determining who is responsible for maintaining the pools, water, or spray parks, and by learning how that water is cleaned.  You can also be vigilant about asking questions if you get a call from a sick patron thinking they have food poisoning.  Ask questions about whether they were in the water that is near you on or around the same day they became ill.  Asking questions can help prevent (in some instances) your operation from being held liable for a sometimes costly illness that may not have originated with you.