Tainted Water May Have Infected Dozens

Dozens of people may have contracted a rare infection from tainted water in Island Park, and state health examiners were investigating the outbreak.

The focus Tuesday was on Sawtelle Mountain Resort, a hotel near Henry’s Lake, where some guests came down with the shigellosis infection earlier this month.

But the source and extent of the problem is unknown. Jesse Greenblatt, an epidemiologist for the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, said up to 50 people may have been infected.

“There’s still a lot of investigation to do up there,” Greenblatt said Tuesday.

Shigellosis is caused by a bacterium known as shigella that can be found in septic systems or in fecal material and can cause infection if swallowed.

Infection can be life-threatening, especially to young children or the elderly. Some victims can suffer diarrhea, vomiting, cramps and fever for up to a week, but others may have no symptoms.

An Aug. 5 test at Sawtelle Mountain Resort found the water contaminated with coliform, another bacterium that can spread from septic systems, and the hotel was ordered to boil its water, said Greg Eager, a senior water quality engineer with the Division of Environmental Quality in Idaho Falls.

Guests at the hotel began getting sick the first weekend of August. They had used hot tubs at the hotel, but got sick before eating any food there, Sawtelle co-owner Susan Dewey said Monday.

Since then, the hotel has shut down the hot tubs and stopped serving food. Dewey said guests now are using bottled water, and the resort has tried to flush out and clean its water pipes.

Greenblatt said it was “a little bit unlikely” that the infection could spread from a hot tub because victims probably would have to swallow the water.

Meanwhile, the Coeur d’Alene Press reported on Tuesday that about 90 Drug Abuse Resistance Education officers and their family members became sick with shigellosis after a conference at Sawtelle Mountain Resort last week.

But Greenblatt was hesitant to confirm any number since he said officials are working off second- and third-hand information.