Skip to main content

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."

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

At 12:00 PM on Saturday, October 28, 2023, in honor of Cyrus the Great Day, you are invited to our unveiling of a monumental statue of Cyrus the Great at the Millennium Gate dedicated to liberty, justice and peace. Cyrus the Great, founder of the Achaemenid empire, upon liberating Babylon, freed the slaves, established racial equality and rights for women, declared that all people had the right to choose their own religion and returned their various gods to their shrines. He also helped the Jews build The Second Temple. According to the Book of Isaiah, Cyrus was anointed by God as a messiah for these actions, the only non-Jewish figure to be revered in this capacity. Iranian and Jewish peoples share an ancient bond of friendship that modern Islamic fanaticism has tried (and failed) to destroy. Remembering the past is a powerful perspective for shaping the future; one where diverse peoples and cultures live together in freedom and harmony.  Cyrus the Great’s decrees wer
No one knows exactly why 29-year-old Iranian costume design student Mahtab Savoji turned up dead in the Venice lagoon last week. Her body, nude except for a string of pearls around her neck, got tangled up between two water taxi drivers near the Via Cipro dock in Venice Lido on January 28. After fishing the corpse out of the lagoon, a Venetian coroner determined that the woman—then unidentified—had been strangled to death at least 24 hours before her body was thrown into the murky water. Her lungs did not contain water from the Venice lagoon, and her body showed no apparent signs of violence other than strangulation. But no one knew who she was or why she was there. Meanwhile, 250 miles away, the day after the mysterious body floated to the surface of the lagoon, Savoji’s friends in Milan—where she had shared an apartment with two hospitality workers from India since November—were starting to get worried. Savoji hadn’t been answering her cellphone, which wasn’t like
Mrs. Smith's birthday was right around the corner but with Mr. Smith losing his job money was tight. Everyone wanted to buy a perfect gift for her but with her being the only breadwinner they couldn't ask her for money to buy her own present. The family debated what to do and finally arrived at a solution. On the morning of her birthday, everyone gathered around her bed as she woke up. They passed a shoebox forward that was decorated with drawings and flashy colors. Mrs. Smith opened the shoebox and peered inside. Multiple strips of paper were there and one by one she picked them up and began reading them. "When times are good and when they’re bad, you’re the best wife I could ever have. From our first date, I knew that I was going to spend the rest of my life with you. Glad to know I was right. When you blow out your candles and make wishes, I hope that they all come true. Happy birthday, sweetheart. -John" "Mothers are the greatest gift that anyo