If you're participating in an obstacle race in the near future, you
might want to make extra sure to keep your mouth closed during the
mud-wading portion of the run.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report showing
that 22 people got sick during a long-distance adventure obstacle
course because they had inadvertently consumed water that had been
contaminated with cow or pig feces.
According to the report, three active-duty members of the military
showed up to an emergency department in Nevada in October 2012 with
symptoms of fever, bloody diarrhea and vomiting. After doctors
interviewed them, they found that they had all participated in an
obstacle adventure race on a cattle ranch, "in which competitors
frequently fell face first into mud or had their heads submerged in
surface water," the report said.
The Nellis Air Force Base Public Health Flight investigated further, and
found that 22 people overall -- including 18 probable cases and four
lab-confirmed cases -- had likely been sickened by Campylobacter coli,
which causes diarrheal illness that usually lasts about a week. The
illnesses occurred in both military personnel and civilians who had
participated n the race.
"Primary and emergency care providers, as well as public health
professionals, should be aware that obstacle adventure race events could
pose a heightened risk for outbreaks from inadvertent ingestion of
contaminated water or mud and might consider outreach to educate
participants on the health risks from oral contact with contaminated
surface water or mud," the researchers wrote in the study.
Because a lot of these races are held in more rural areas, it's possible
for bacteria from animal feces to contaminate the slurry fields used in
the obstacle courses. Therefore, "event organizers should consider
including the risk for waterborne outbreaks in their participant waivers
and advise participants to avoid drinking or swallowing unsafe water,"
they wrote. "Participants also need to be encouraged to seek appropriate
medical care for postcompetition diarrhea, especially bloody diarrhea,
and to inform medical personnel of their exposure."
The woman who allegedly opened fire at YouTube’s headquarters in a suburb of San Francisco, injuring three before killing herself, was apparently furious with the video website because it had stopped paying her for her clips. Police in California named the shooter as Nasim Najafi Aghdam. Aghdam was “upset with the policies and practices of YouTube”, San Bruno police chief Ed Barberini said at a press conference on Wednesday. “This appears to be the motive for this incident.” No evidence had been found linking her to any individuals at the company where she allegedly opened fire on Tuesday, he said. Police gave her age as 39 but her brother said she would have turned 38 on Wednesday. Two of the three shooting victims from the incident were released from the Zuckerberg San Francisco general hospital on Tuesday night. A third, a male in his 30s, is currently in “serious condition”, a hospital spokeswoman said Wednesday morning. A fourth victim had been injured, but not shot,...
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