VDH closes Lake Anna illness outbreak investigation
RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - The Virginia Department of Health reports that —the most recent testing of water samples collected from Lake Anna did not detect E. coli.
Additional fecal bacteria results for the water samples did not show levels that typically rise to public health concerns.
VDH is concluding the Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) outbreak investigation associated with exposure to Lake Anna over the Memorial Day weekend. Up to 25 people reported E. coli infections who visited the lake that weekend. 76% of cases involved children, with five of them needing hospitalization.
In a release, the health department said the following:
“Water testing is a snapshot in time and at a specific location. The samples used for STEC testing were collected about four weeks after the Memorial Day Weekend and might not reflect the water environment during the holiday weekend. These results also cannot predict future risk. Swimming or other activities in any natural body of water always pose some health risks because the water is not disinfected.”
The Department of Environmental Quality will continue routine bacterial monitoring of Lake Anna, which occurs between April and October each year.
The upper section of the North Anna Branch of Lake Anna in Louisa County remains under a swimming advisory due to harmful algal blooms unrelated to this STEC outbreak.
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