Winnipeg: More Bad Bugs in Pool

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Canoe

Friday, January 12, 2001

More bad bugs in pool

By ROSS ROMANIUK -- Winnipeg Sun

WINNIPEG -- City pools are battening down the hatches and beefing up inspections after a discovery that itchy and irritating bacteria aren't confined to only one swimming hole.

The scare that hit Pan Am Pool days ago yesterday struck Assiniboia's Centennial swimming facility, when pseudomonas aeruginosa turned up in tests at the west Winnipeg complex's whirlpool.

"I think it's unfortunate it's happened at two of our facilities in such a short period of time," said Bob McDonald, whose public works department got down to business scouring for the bug immediately after it turned up in tests Tuesday.

Though routine, the inspection last weekend came on the heels of the Pan Am alarm -- which The Sun first reported last week -- to ensure other local warm-water facilities are safe from pseudonomas, which causes rashes, eye irritations and outer ear infections.

CLOSER ATTENTION

Apparently, they're not.

"The city will be paying closer attention to this particular issue now in the future," said Dr. Margaret Fast, medical officer with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.

Closer attention is already being paid to not only Pan Am and Centennial, but Archibald Street's Bonivital Pool. Checks at Pan Am's kiddie facility and the other two whirlpools are being beefed up to a monthly frequency from four times a year.

Though users and staff at Pan Am have spoken of a variety of skin irritations at the pool, Centennial's bacteria may not have hurt anyone, officials say.

That's because the problem was detected while the whirlpool had already been shut for routine maintenance. The discovery simply lengthened the closure, McDonald said, so disinfecting could be completed.

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), January 12, 2001


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