Crypto Research Paper

Crypto, also referred to as cryptosporidiosis and cryptosporidium, is a waterborne disease. It brings sickness to the host with tiny cryptosporidium parasites. After the parasites enter the body, it continues by penetrating the small intestines. Its symptoms usually begin within a week of infection. These symptoms include fever, dehydration, weight and appetite loss, stomach cramps, vomiting, and watery diarrhea. For people with healthy immune systems, symptoms commonly last around one to two weeks. On rare occasions, it can last up to a month. Furthermore, cryptosporidium can be deadly for people with poor immune systems or if it goes untreated. People with more exposure to other infected people and water, animals, and children have a higher
risk of getting infected. One can catch cryptosporidium from ingesting something contaminated or having close interactions with someone who has already been infected. (Mayo Clinic Staff). Because cryptosporidium is a microscopic parasite, a breakout is easy to occur caused illness among an entire society. As a matter of fact, that is exactly what happened. Cryptosporidium broke out multiple times in U.S. history. Specifically, its biggest outbreak was in Milwaukee. The cryptosporidium parasite outbreak struck fear among the Milwaukee society, and through the media unanswered questions were being addressed to help calm the residents of Milwaukee. “During 2001–2010, Crypto was the leading cause of waterborne disease outbreaks, linked to recreational water in the United States.
The parasite is found in every region of the United States and throughout the world,” (Cryptosporidium, CDC). In 1987, cryptosporidium broke out in Carroll County, Georgia. From Jan. 12 to Feb. 17, 1987, the cryptosporidium parasite broke out and brought illness among an estimated amount of 13,000 people in a county of 64,000 people of Georgia. (Hinds). Their water system met all standard requirements. However, the parasite still passed through and contaminated the drinking water. The next major cryptosporidium outbreak was in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and it turned out to be the largest documented cryptosporidium outbreak in U.S. history. The Milwaukee outbreak resulted in around 400,000 illnesses and minimum 69 deaths. (Ceraso). Same as Georgia, the citizens of Milwaukee were dealing with contaminated public water. The residents of Milwaukee draws their water from Lake Michigan. In addition to serving the 800,000 residents in Milwaukee, Lake Michigan also provides water for 10 other suburban communities. Before anyone has any actual contact with the water, it is first filtered through a purification plant. (Hinds). Crypto broke through the filters at one of the purification plants because the operators lost control of the treatment
process.
Crypto infecting the water changed the society. Of course, when the sicknesses first began, Milwaukeeans had no idea what the cause was. Because the culprit was unknown, sick residents were told to drink more water, not knowing that water was causing everyone to become sick in the first place. Once the discovery was made, Milwaukeeans became very alert and concern. In order for the water to be usable again, it had to be boiled for five minutes to kill the parasite. However, Milwaukeeans were still very afraid to even though they were assured that it had been boiled and the parasite was dead. The outbreak resulted in the determination to insecure that this contamination didn't continue and that it will never happen again. Hundreds of millions of dollars were invested in improving the system’s monitoring, infrastructure, and treatment. (Ceraso). Because of cryptosporidium, there have been numerous improvements to the water. Now, they have one of the most ozonated, filtered, and clean water in the country. (Behm).was actually a blessing in disguise for Milwaukeeans. It helped them realize how poor their purification system was at catching or preventing contaminated water. Therefore, they were determined to improve their systems.
Throughout the chaos, Milwaukeeans was kept calm through the media. In the beginning, many residents were struck with unanswered questions. During the early days of the outbreak, no one knew much of anything. However, for many weeks, there was a daily, steady flow of information coming from the news, which turned out to be a valuable source for the public. (Milwaukee, 1993). In addition to newspapers, the public was kept informed through other types of resources like press conferences, TV and radio stations, billboards, and so on. As a matter of fact, the Health Department’s regular press conference worked very well in providing critical information. (Milwaukee, 1993). There was also a phone bank assembled at a local TV station for the purpose of dealing with questions from the public. (Milwaukee, 1993). The methods used for distributing information among Milwaukeeans really helped keep the situation as serene as possible. In conclusion, cryptosporidium is the root of all fear and confusion from Milwaukeeans during April 1993. It’s an easily missed parasite that the human body can naturally fight. However, an outbreak is very easy to occur because it's microscopic, waterborne, and the symptoms aren't that severe. Even though the outbreak in Milwaukee caused a large number of residents to become sick, it helped the society grow and improve in ways they didn't know need improving. Because of cryptosporidium, a few hundred people died. However, because of cryptosporidium, a waterborne disease outbreak is assured to never happen again. Cryptosporidium did cause some damage to the society, but in the end, it was a blessing in disguise for Milwaukeeans.