E. coli and HUS Linked to Lake at Cowans Gap State Park in PA
An outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 has been linked to swimming at the lake in Cowans Gap State Park in Pennsylvania. Dr. Andre Weltman of the Pennsylvania Health Department told the media that there are six confirmed E. coli 0157:H7 cases involving children who had been swimming in the lake over the past month: 4 from Franklin County, one from Huntingdon County and one from Maryland.
At least four of these children have hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a severe illness that is the leading cause of kidney failure in children in the United States. To date, three of the children with E. coli HUS have required dialysis for kidney failure. When HUS progresses to this point is when a lot of other problems surface, including seizures, brain damage, pancreatitis, heart failure, blindness and other serious health problems. It is fatal in 5-10% of the cases.
In response to this outbreak, Pennsylvania officials closed the lake at Cowans Gap State Park yesterday in the late afternoon:
All water activities at Cowans Gap State park including swimming, wading, boating and fishing is prohibited until further notice. We are doing this to insure that we have safe water in the lake for these recreational activities.
