SYDNEY, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) -- Health authorities in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) on Tuesday issued a public warning over a recent increase in cryptosporidiosis cases, advising people not to swim for at least two weeks if having diarrhea.
Jeremy McAnulty, executive director of health protection at the state's ministry of health, revealed that there had been 498 cases of cryptosporidiosis reported in NSW so far this year, compared to the five-year average of 95 cases for the same period, while almost half of the cases were confirmed among children under 10 years old.
Cryptosporidiosis is a diarrhoeal disease, commonly acquired by swimming in and swallowing water contaminated with cryptosporidium parasites.
"The parasite survives for many days, even in chlorinated pools, and in the past, very large outbreaks have been caused by people who had recently been infected going swimming," said McAnulty.
"Almost half of the cases reported this year had been swimming during their exposure period, and with such a high proportion of young children affected and with many schools about to hold swimming carnivals, we're urging parents to stay alert for symptoms," he added.
Besides, a spike in cryptosporidiosis cases has also been detected in Queensland.
Data from Queensland's Department of Health indicated that since the start of 2024, over 823 cryptosporidiosis cases have been reported across the state up to Feb. 7.
A total of 736 cases were reported in January alone, which is 13 times higher than the number reported in January last year, and surpasses the annual totals for both 2021 and 2022. ■
