It’s recommended that you don’t swim in Sycamore Pool in Bidwell Park right now. That’s because it has high levels of E. coli.
The Butte County Public Health Department has issued a swim advisory for the pool. It comes after public health received two reports of E. coli infections in children two weeks ago who had recently swam there.
Infections of the bacteria can cause diarrhea, vomiting, bloody stools, high fever and abdominal pain.
"If people are swimming in bodies of water, I expect there to be E. coli infections if they're swimming in lakes and creeks. It is only when these cases are very serious that the public health department finds out about them."— Dr. Jarett Beaudoin, Butte County Public Health officer
Butte County Public Health Officer, Dr. Jarett Beaudoin, said after the reports his department reached out to officials with the City of Chico who said bacteria levels were within normal limits. But he said after further investigation, the health department found they weren’t.
“We were able to do some calculations that showed that actually the E. coli levels were higher than the [Environmental Protection Agency] standards for safe swimming,” Beaudoin told NSPR.
Sycamore Pool is built around Big Chico Creek. Beaudoin says areas that use naturally occurring water like this always have traces of E. coli, but sometimes the levels become unsafe.
“In general, if people are swimming in bodies of water, I expect there to be E. coli infections if they're swimming in lakes and creeks,” he said. “It is only when these cases are very serious that the public health department finds out about them.”
The advisory is not expected to be lifted until the water tests for safe levels of E. coli, Beaudoin said.
