A recent study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control found that dozens of people reported getting sick after visiting the splash pad at Tanganyika Wildlife Park in Wichita, Kansas, it has been revealed. The CDC has said this week that on June 11, 2021, more than 21 people suffered from an illness caused by the Shigella bacteria before another incident on June 18 saw another six people contract norovirus.
36 people later came forward and said they, too, became ill after visiting the park, but they were never tested for Shigella or norovirus as their symptoms eventually began to subside. The CDC confirmed that the rare Shigella bacteria is usually only spread through nonhuman primates, indicating that those who were infected would have somehow contracted it through the hundreds of animals at the wildlife park.
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Interestingly enough, however, the only mammal that visitors were allowed to interact with during the period of alleged infections were lemurs, who are not usually linked to carrying the bacteria. At least three lawsuits were filed against the park, with one of them already being settled while the other two remain pending, according to NBC News.
Matt Fouts, who is the director of the wildlife park, came to the company’s defense, insisting that while he’s all for analyzing data to learn from the past, he didn’t find the CDC study very useful. “It offered little advice for other splash parks besides ensuring you have signage that states ‘don’t swallow the water’ and offered no additional insight into the investigation.
“Regardless, it did affirm that there have been no additional incidents because we took the situation seriously and found ways to enhance our system and processes so that the Splash Park is safer than ever.”
“We took the situation seriously and found ways to enhance our system and processes.”
One Plaintiff, Elena Davis, had contended that the park was unsanitary and that they were never warned about potentially contracting the harmful bacteria even though staff members allegedly already knew about the outbreak that had caused havoc on people’s health.
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The CDC didn’t hold back in pushing the blame on the wildlife park, considering they mostly target young children keen to see their animals. Kids, as the study showed, are more likely to fall sick with gastrointestinal illnesses, and if there was already knowledge that Shigella and norovirus were spreading in their water park pad, nobody was advised to refrain from getting in the water — particularly children who are believed to have swallowed water from the pool.
The CDC have advised that splash pad attractions should start implementing warning signs that lets visitors know “Don’t get in the water if sick with diarrhea,” “Don’t swallow the water,” and “Don’t stand or sit above the jets.”