Marathon County is responding to an outbreak of cryptosporidium. Eight people have come down with the disease since early August.
Health officer Julie Willems Van Dijk says symptoms include watery diarrhea and abdominal cramps. Other symptoms include fever, headache and loss of appetite.
One source of the disease may be a contaminated pool at the Rothschild-Schofield aquatic center. Environmental health and safety director Dale Grosskurth says the pool was properly treated, but cryptosporidium is chlorine-resistant.
Grosskurth says the disease is spread through fecal matter. He says proper hand washing can stop its spread though there are other prevention techniques.
Municipal leaders closed the pool Wednesday to begin the cleaning and disinfecting process. The pool had been scheduled to close today for the season anyway.
