Forensic Files - Season 2, Episode 13 - Deadly Parasites - Full Episode | Forensic Files

in the spring of 1993 an unexplained illness struck the residents of Milwaukee Wisconsin 400,000
people developed serious gastrointestinal illness 4,000 were hospitalized and by the time it was
under control more than a 100 people died Health officials suspected it was influenza
but it was something more serious and much more difficult for Medical detectives to uncover
[Music] [Music] [Music] Milwaukee Wisconsin the 17th largest city in the United States with a
population of almost 1 million people it's a city known for its German culture summer
festivals and Long Cold Winters with plenty of snow Milwaukee is the home of several
large breweries producing 11 million barrels of beer annually but in the spring of
1993 Milwaukee became famous for something else an unexplained outbreak of gastrointestinal illness which spread
rapidly throughout the community 4,000 people rushed to area hospitals all with the same symptoms severe cramps diarrhea
nausea and fever I had the diarrhea off and on all week I missed two days of work and I thought it was and it came
back again hardest hit were individuals with weakened immune systems infants the
elderly cancer and AIDS patients and those who had organ or bone marrow transplants four-year-old Becky Ferman
suffered from a particularly bad case she was just a vibrant child she was highly intelligent very vivacious very
talkative very friendly um just a normal kid Becky Ferman was born HIV positive which made her particularly susceptible
to the mysterious outbreak this got to be absolute water turning from brown to Yellow to
Green terrible odor and she would have 8 n 10 11 12 B movements a day 40-year-old Antonio claudo was also
affected like Becky he too is HIV positive but the severity of the cramps and diarrhea he developed during the out
break was alarming yeah I freaked out I was like is is this this what's happening to me a
nature course of the virus itself of the HIV AIDS or is this something else the primary suspects were shagel Giardia
campor or salmonella but stool samples from the infected individuals were all negative
we knew this was big I mean we knew a lot of people were sick we knew a lot of kids were sick we were beginning to get
reports from hospitals that patients particularly with immune compromising conditions particularly HIV AIDS were
having very difficult times shaking loose of this outbreak and so we were uh beginning to understand that this was in
fact an epidemic and health officials had no idea what was causing it [Music] within 24 hours of the outbreak the
mayor of Milwaukee knew he faced a serious dilemma no American city had ever faced this type of Crisis before
the concern in the health department was the beginning of you know a real concern
what is this you know how can so many people get sick all at one time if the outbreak was caused by a contaminated
food source stool samples would contain the bacteria which caused it and health officials could find no common food
source that all of the sick individuals use food illnesses usually center around
a common food distribution center processing plant restaurant or grocery store but one
common element among all of the infected individuals was water officials analyzed the water
quality records at the city's Municipal Water Supply but all of the water quality levels were within guidelines
established by the Environmental Protection Agency for Safe Drinking Water we went back and indicated that to
the health department and they continued on with their investigation into other areas but when scientists looked at the
distribution pattern of the outbreak they noticed that most of the cases were clustered in the south side of the city
we believed we would have witnessed a more normal uniform distribution of illness had it been an Airborne virus
because it would have started at a point and moved outward since the outbreak seemed to be centered in Milwaukee South
Side this narrowed the focus of the investigation Becky Ferman lived on Milwaukee's South Side her doctor had no
idea what caused her illness and soon discovered they couldn't cure it in individuals like Becky who had
HIV one of the things was that she was limited in what she could do as far as where we could go and what we could do
with her as far as playing because she would have these accidents another thing was the General
weakness uh because of the constant diarrhea gastrointestinal illness is usually caused by something that is
ingested once again pointing to food or water the water plant which supplied Milwaukee's South Side reported that the
only unusual readout was a peak in turbidity one week before the outbreak turbidity measures the amount of foreign
particles in the water after a rainstorm or when snow melts turbidity levels will temporarily
rise storms churn River and Creek bottoms and melting snow will often gather particles as it runs into streams
Health officials wondered if the increase in turbidity levels was caused for concern the Municipal Water Supply
was disinfected with chlorine was it possible that the city's water supply was contaminated with something that
didn't show up in water tests and that chlorine would not kill if so the entire city would be at risk and one of the
city's largest Industries could also be affected the Brewing industry the breweries were among the
largest users of Municipal Water if there was an unknown organism in the water was it being shipped all across
the country by the tens of thousands of gallons a day [Music] Health officials suspected that
something in Milwaukee's water supply was causing the outbreak of thousands of cases of gastrointestinal illness the
water department insisted that the water quality levels were all within standards
set by the Environmental Protection Agency and that the water was safe to drink hospitals and Laboratories
throughout Milwaukee continued to analyze to samples from the thousands of individuals affected everything pretty
much was a dead end everywhere we looked was everything was negative Sandy sheris
was doing some of those tests at a local hospital as a microbiologist she was performing the routine tests on patients
hospitalized with the mysterious illness the standard test was an iodine stain when added to the stool samples the
iodine would show if if parasites were present but all of the iodine tests were negative on her own Sandy shrus decided
to go one step further she remembered something she learned earlier in her training that microbiology should be on
the lookout for parasites which do not show up on standard tests with that in mind she noticed a number of unusual
structures in the samples structures which didn't react with the iodine stain at that point I don't know exactly what
it is yet but it means something that's your first clue so she performed an acid
fast stain she flooded the stool sample with a red stain then washed the sample with
alcohol and sulfuric acid during the final step and additional green stain is added under the
microscope she thought what she saw a highly infectious potentially deadly parasite first acid Fain wasn't real
definitive this is probably our first line it's easiest it's quickest it's done in about 10 minutes and I didn't
feel comfortable calling it on that so we went on and did a fluorescent stain the fluorescent stain introduces the
parasites antibod to the sample along with the fluorescent agent under the microscope Sandy sheris noticed a bright
green glow if it was the fluorescent agent attached to the antibody proof that a parasite was present it was
cryptos peridium little is known about cryptos peridium since it first infected humans just over 20 years ago it's a
one- celled organism a protozoan parasite which is found in feces from Young farm animals particularly Cales
kryptos peridium is an 80% cent of surface water largely due to animal feces washed from farms into nearby
streams by heavy rains and melting snow here you can see the tiny cryptosporidia escaping from their
shells once they do they multiply by the millions when they spread throughout the
gastrointestinal system they absorb nourishment preventing the body from retaining fluids and causing severe
cramps explosive diarrhea and other flu like symptoms a healthy individual with a healthy immune system can usually get
rid of the parasite within a week with no lasting effects but it can be deadly for those with weakened immune systems
like the elderly AIDS and cancer patients and individuals with organ and bone marrow transplants when lab
technicians retested other stool samples they could confirmed what Sandy sheris first discovered cryptosporidium was
found in seven more stool samples once you knew what you're looking for it was everywhere I mean we knew then now we
had the agent now where was it coming from that was the next step since cryptos peridium is a waterborne
parasite it renewed fears that the city's water supply was contaminated the mayor called an
emergency meeting of both city and state health officials during that meeting the
mayor noticed one of the participants Dr Jeffrey Davis the state's epidemiologist
was drinking diet soda and not water when the mayor turned to Dr Davis and asked if he would drink the city's water
Dr Davis said no it wasn't difficult once I asked Dr Davis if he drank the water I mean if he suspect he's a
scientist he's an expert and and a very honest person uh you know if he suspected that there
could be problems with the water that's pretty good test right there since boiling was the only way to get rid of
crypt peridium the mayor immediately issued a boil water advisory recommending that all water be boiled
for at least 5 minutes before use it was a bold recommendation with wide ranging
implications since tests for cryptos peridium in the city's water supply had not yet been completed
dental offices were closed since their drills were water cooled restaurants were also affected since they use water
for ice and washing dishes 3 Days Later tests on Milwaukee's water done by an independent laboratory confirmed that
krypto's peridium was present in the purified water from the Howard Avenue Water Plant the news of kryptos peridium
contamination was especially terrifying Ling to one segment of the population people with HIV infections or aids for
these patients it was life-threatening immediately they knew what crypto was this was not a new illness to them
cryptosis for someone with a severely compromised immune system is a death sentence Doug Nelson and the
organization he directs the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin went into crisis mode he knew that individuals
with HIV aids would never get rid of the parasite but his goal was to make sure no one else became infected the Howard
Avenue Water Plant was immediately closed the water flushed out and the entire plant disinfected from top to
bottom to remove any traces of kryptos peridian a few days after the boil water advisory the number of cryptosporidiosis
cases dropped significantly but the levels discovered in Milwaukee's water supply had been potent
one businessman traveling through Milwaukee's airport reported getting sick after drinking just enough water to
swallow a few aspirin Antonio claudo was living in Houston when he tested positive for
cryptosporidiosis he believes he was infected while visiting his mother who lived on the south side of Milwaukee
since there is no cure for cryptosporidiosis besides a healthy immune system and Antonio lives each day
with constant chronic diarrhea once you discover you have this dis disease your life changes and there's just no way to
get around it prayer helps a lot but um you just can't erase it it's reality no matter what portion of
it and you're just waiting to die little Becky Ferman lost her fight with cryptosporidiosis she died after
battling its effects for many months Becky was in a coma eyes closed but she raised her hands to us and grabbed h of
our hands took three breaths and a spirit and energy left ripped the heart um but a gratefulness because she wasn't
in pain anymore she looked peaceful for for the first time investigators soon had a theory for
how crypto peridium contaminated Milwaukee's water [Music] supply after an intensive investigation
Health officials developed a theory as to how cryptos peridium contaminated Milwaukee's water supply in ear early
April of 1993 heavy rains and the spring snow melt caused water runoff the ground was
still frozen and unable to absorb the water manure from the farms and Fields might have washed into nearby streams
manure which contained cryptos peridium the cryptos peridia then made their way from the streams into Lake Michigan the
source of Milwaukee's drinking water in 199 3 there were no filters or mass disinfectants used anywhere in the
United States which could eliminate the cryptos peridium and water plants chlorine was ineffective against it over
400,000 people who ingested water from the Howard Avenue plant became ill 4,000 were hospitalized
104 died that theory held for 4 years during that time the the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta Georgia
continued to investigate Milwaukee's cryptos peridium outbreak since it was the largest waterborne outbreak in
United States history in 1997 scientists retested four stool samples from individuals infected during that
outrate they conducted DNA testing on the cryptos peridium and when they did there was a shocking Discovery the type
of crypto peridium found in the four stool samples from the Milwaukee outbreak did not come from farm animals
it was a new strain one which came from human waste our results suggest on the basis of The Limited number of samples
that we looked at that the uh Milwaukee outbreak um was was not from pasture runoff but was from uh sewage
contamination when investigators looked more closely at Milwaukee's water supply
they found that the Howard Avenue new Water Plant's intake was less than 2 mi down current from a sewage treatment
plant overflow valve in Lake Michigan the cdc's discovery suggested that human waste containing cryptos peridium was
released from the sewage treatment plant traveled the 2 miles Downstream where it
entered the water intake of the Howard Avenue Water Plant today sewage from that plant is no longer released into
Lake m Michigan and the Howard Avenue Water Plant moved their intake further out into the lake away from possible
pollutant and Milwaukee is building an ozonization facility ozone is a form of oxygen which kills more microorganisms
than chlorine it's the only Mass disinfectant process known to kill cryptos peridium in water when the
facility is completed Milwaukee will be the only major city in the United States
to ozonate its water every city around the country that relies on surface water for its drinking water must study the
Milwaukee example and must follow our lead in making those extraordinary commitments to assure to their public
that in fact the water that they consume is safe and that they will not get ill from it and and that they will not die
from it I mean I I felt terrible about that I'm not an expert on water but I'm the mayor and uh you know you kind of
rely on your City to provide you with water it turns out that cryptos peridium has gotten in water supplies in other
parts of the country it's not that [Music] uncommon we went through a lot a lot of
anger not only anger at the loss of our daughter but the anger loss of so many [Music]
friends as time passed we came to realize that yes I we believe that public officials were at fault for not knowing
more about it for not teaching us but ultimately we all are corporately responsible you and I and and the world
for not caring about water until someone dies [Music] morning [Music] [Applause]
[Music]

Brief Summary

The 1993 Milwaukee outbreak revealed cryptosporidium contamination in water, affecting thousands and leading to significant health changes.

Key points

Milwaukee's Mysterious Outbreak. In 1993, Milwaukee faced a severe gastrointestinal illness outbreak, leading to 4,000 hospitalizations and over 100 deaths.
Discovery of Cryptosporidium. Microbiologist Sandy Sheris discovered the deadly parasite cryptosporidium in stool samples, linking it to the outbreak.
Water Supply Contamination. Tests confirmed cryptosporidium contamination in Milwaukee's water supply, posing life-threatening risks to vulnerable populations.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I freaked out. What's happening to me?

Antonio Claudo's reaction to his symptoms during the outbreak.

3:03WatchSep 16, 2024

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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