Two more types of bacterium linked to Tanganyika Wildlife Park’s splash park: health officials

Two more bacterium have been linked to Tanganyika Wildlife Park’s splash park in Goddard, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment said Friday, adding coliform and E. coli to the list of exposed bacterium that patrons, many of them children and families, may have encountered.

The KDHE had previously reported three people who attended the park tested positive for Shigella. That number is now at six.

Additionally, people who attended the splash park have also tested positive for the norovirus, sapovirus and a type of E. coli called enteropathogenic E. coli, the KDHE said Friday.

“Investigations are ongoing as to whether these illnesses are associated with exposure at the Splash Park,” the KDHE said.

The announcement comes the same day an amended lawsuit was filed that added more people who joined the suit, currently at 47 plaintiffs. Those people allege they became “violently ill and suffered repeated bouts of vomiting, diarrhea, headaches and fever and other symptoms due to the negligence and/or carelessness” of the park, the lawsuit says.

The splash park closed on June 19 and remains closed. The KDHE reported June 20 that it began an investigation into the park two days earlier after a “diarrheal illness” was linked to several people who visited the splash park.

Friday’s update brought the number of positive Shigella cases linked to the park to six. Shigella is a bacteria that spreads from person-to-person through exposure to contaminated feces.

Despite the link to Shigella, none was actually found when water samples were taken on June 19, the report said, but samples did have the bacterium coliform and E. coli.

“In water sample testing, the presence of these bacteria indicates likely fecal contamination,” the KDHE said. “The water results are a snapshot of water quality on the day the samples were collected. Further interpretation of the water sample results is ongoing.”

It only takes a small number of bacteria to spread illness from person-to-person through exposure to contaminated feces, the KDHE said. An example given was changing the diaper of an infected baby.

On June 19, the park wrote on Facebook that the splash park was being closed due to a filtration system problem and that they are “working diligently to remedy the issue.”

“The splash park is a new adventure for us animal people, and it was an issue we could not foresee,” the post said. “We plan to notify everyone as soon as we have a set date for opening.”

The post has more than 1,000 comments, including many people reporting children being sick or even hospitalized.

A park official did not respond to requests for comment from The Eagle.

This story was originally published July 2, 2021 at 6:02 PM.