Hutt City Council staff knew Te Ngaengae's toddler pool was linked to a cryptosporidiosis outbreak as early as March 12.
Hutt City Council knew one of its toddler swimming pools was “likely infected” with cryptosporidiosis during a public health outbreak, but didn’t immediately alert the public as it didn’t want to cause “undue alarm”.
There have been 93 confirmed cases of crypto, a “very contagious” parasitic stomach bug, since the start of the year in the Greater Wellington region.
Internal emails released to the Herald under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act confirm the toddler’s swimming area at Te Ngaengae Pool was identified as a “common area” for cases on March 12.
The council did not release any statement about the pool being linked to the outbreak until March 21, when it posted an “update” on Facebook.
Angry parents have since questioned why council didn’t alert them sooner, “to give parents the facts and power to make informed choices for their tamariki”.
Those who’ve caught the bug have described it as something they “wouldn’t wish on anyone”, with one woman so worried about her sick husband she nearly called an ambulance.
Council has defended its communications, saying it followed all Public Health guidance and didn’t want to cause alarm until there was a confirmed link.
The first inkling anything was afoot was as early as March 4 when a member of the public emailed the council, concerned her family had got sick from Te Ngaengae pool.
She described how she and her kids, as well as nieces and others in their group who visited the pool on February 22, all had varying stomach bug symptoms.
“Our only link is the pools,” she said, noting that others in the group who didn’t enter the water were fine.
“I think it’s easy for people to assume it’s just a tummy bug so wouldn’t immediately link it to the pools. But this isn’t like a normal tummy bug for us so that’s why I started asking around.
“There was also a code-brown incident while we were in the pool which saw the kids pool evacuated to the toddler area.”
That same day, council’s Swim City manager emailed staff to let them know a swim instructor was “very unwell” and was going to be tested for crypto.
The following week, on March 12, head of aquatics Iain Brown emailed Andrea Blackshaw, head of neighbourhood and communities.
“Just a heads up. There is a Cryptosporidium outbreak in the wider Wellington area, with a number in the Hutt area. During the MoH investigation we (the toddlers pool at TNN) have come up as a common area for four of the cases.
“There is nothing to suggest that we are the source but they advised us last night as part of their response.
“We did have a family advise us of them being cases a week ago but the timings that they gave us did not tally with what we understood to be the incubation times for crypto. It is possible that the four cases are a family and Health did not elaborate.
“If it was us we would expect far more cases than what have presented, which is why Health are not panicking.”
Brown said as a precaution they had closed the toddler pool that day “for maintenance” and were increasing the amount of chlorine running through the system and cycling the water through the UV filters “a good few times”.
He said UV was “supposedly” the best way of dealing with it, other than dumping the water.
“The fact that we have been identified as a common place is only known to our immediate managers and the supervisors doing the work.
“If, in the worst case we are the source, we would dump the water and refill.”
That same day, Te Whatu Ora issued a Public Health Alert, advising of 8 crypto cases in the Hutt and linking the jump in cases to swimming pools.
A council facility manager forwarded an email from Health NZ about the outbreak, saying “looks to be a little more serious than first thought”.
Two days later on Friday March 14 Hutt City Council staff had another catchup with Public Health.
Brown again emailed Blackshaw saying he’d prepared a few words to start a press response if “anything fires up on social media”.
“There is nothing different from what I have already briefed you on, so far as confirmed cases go, however there are a lot of people who have been sick from Belmont school –which a couple of our cases that are linked to are from.
“On the day that Belmont came to us and on another date where a couple of cases were linked to, we had faecal incidents.
“Not all of the people who reported sick at Belmont came to us, so we are not the direct source for everyone – but Crypto is very contagious."
Brown said Public Health had a media team on standby who would be “more than happy to assist with any response”.
“They fully support and appreciate how proactive and helpful we have been.
“They do not openly name sources unless there is an ongoing risk. While it is possible that there may be more cases linked to the pool – due to incubation times – we are not considered a risk."
Blackshaw replied saying “any comms would be reactive only”.
Five days later on Wednesday March 19 Brown emailed again, saying they had now been informed of a crypto case in the Hydro pool.
“It sounds like there have been a lot more cases in the Hutt Valley and not just via us as the source. I’ll see what PH says tomorrow but it may pay to work with them to go public with a statement.”
An hour later Blackshaw emailed council Chief Executive Jo Miller saying Radio NZ was doing a story on the outbreak and suggesting elected members, including the mayor, be updated ASAP.
The email outlined how there was currently a cryptosporidium outbreak in the wider Wellington area, with the number of cases reported in the Hutt Valley having jumped to 19.
“Earlier this week the Te Ngaengae toddlers pool was identified as a common area for several individual cases. This means our pool was likely infected and has become a source for passing it on.
“Media are following up on the advisory so you can expect to see stories in the media. Our pools have not been identified to date but could be through publicity and the advice on swimming pools. We are preparing reactive comms.”
The following day RNZ published the first news article on the outbreak.
Another email shortly after to Brown reads “Crypto is in the media now (not tied to a specific pool). Today is probably best to pull the trigger on a media release after our meeting with public health”.
That same morning - 16 days after receiving their email - Operations Lead for Te Ngaengae Pool & Fitness Craig Heberley replied to the initial family who questioned whether the pools had made them sick.
He thanked the family for getting in touch, said they had been in his thoughts, and apologised for not reaching out sooner.
“I agree, given your families’ symptoms, and the timeline, there is a strong chance that you were infected at the pool.”
Heberley explained how crypto is resistant to chlorine at normal pool levels and what it takes to kill the bug. He said if someone who is infectious with crypto goes swimming it can stay in the water for 10-15 days.
“Moving forward, none of us here are happy with the processes that were in place, as they are in reactionary, relying on people to become unwell before we enact them.
“We have moved our water treatment process to a preventive model in regard to crypto, regularly treating the water out of hours to minimize the likelihood of infection, should we become contaminated.”
By the next day, Friday March 21, the number of cases linked to Te Ngaengae pool had jumped to 15.
The wider outbreak had jumped to 32 cases.
Brown sent another email saying they’d spoken to Public Health and had decided to dump the water from the toddler’s pool and refill.
“This is the ultimate best way of categorically dealing with the possibility of lingering infections.”
That afternoon a message was posted to the council’s pools Facebook page titled ‘Cryptosporidium update’.
“Hutt City Council was contacted by Health New Zealand about some cases of cryptosporidium that appeared to be linked to the Te Ngaengae toddlers’ pool and the Huia Hydrotherapy Pool.”
It said as soon as the council was made aware it took immediate action. The post finishes thanking the community for understanding “as we take proactive steps to keep our community safe”.
The post attracted 46 comments, many from angry parents questioning why they weren’t alerted sooner.
“Why did Te Ngaengae continue to operate without being transparent about the increased risk especially to children?”, one parent questioned.
“Had I known there had been cases linked to the pool when I arrived there with my 3yo on Weds afternoon, I would have chosen not to swim. 36 hours after swimming for an hour in the toddler and kids pool, my daughter has been ill.”
Another mother wrote “I called Te Ngaengae this morning and asked when they knew about outbreaks being linked to their pool and they said they were informed last week.”
“My son went swimming on Monday and has just finished being ill today!”, another parent commented.
“Wish they had closed the pool down as soon as they knew about it, would’ve prevented my poor son from being on the toilet the past 3 days.”
Another sympathised - “And I wouldn’t have been catching vomit in my bare hands at 2am. Sorry your son has been so unwell.”
In reply, Hutt City Council said “the incubation period for crypto can be up to 12 days”.
The reply said they followed Public Health instructions “precisely” and were proactive in treating the water and taking the “extra step” to drain and clean the system.
A parent responded saying, “you’re missing the point”.
“Regardless of the processes taken, you should have given parents the information that there had been cases and given us the opportunity to make the best choice for our tamariki.
“My daughter is monitored for low weight. We swam at your pool ironically on our way home from her weight check in with the paeds Dr. For some, catching a virus like this doesn’t have major consequences. For others, like my child, it can. I’m simply asking you to give parents the facts and power to make informed choices for their tamariki.”
The Herald asked Hutt City Council why it didn’t alert the public sooner about the known link between the outbreak and Te Ngaengae pool - specifically the toddler’s pool.
In a statement, a council spokesperson said their notifications to the public were made in line with public health guidance and they were “comfortable” with their response.
“We were notified by Public Health that a small number of people who had tested positive for cryptosporidium, reported that they had recently visited the pool. At this stage we don’t advise the public as there is no confirmed link and we don’t want to cause undue alarm.”
The spokesperson said they had taken precautionary steps of treating the pool, which meant “the danger” had passed and there was “no risk from the pool to make people aware of, other than a general outbreak in the region and good protocols which Public Health were communicating”.
“As soon as we were confirmed as a source of someone having become ill from visiting the pool, we closed and drained the pool and advised the public. Public Health are supportive of the way we responded.”
The Herald asked when the public was advised, and the spokesperson pointed to a Facebook post on the council’s pools page on March 19. The post made no mention of cryptosporidiosis or the pools’ link to the outbreak.
The Herald asked why the council opted for “reactive comms”, rather than proactively issuing a media release on a serious public health matter.
“Until there was evidence that we were a potential source then there was little point in causing alarm. Public Health provided advice and guidance relevant to all pools”, the spokesperson said.
“Once we were identified as a source for exposure we front-footed communication. By this time, we had already extensively cleaned and treated the pool to Public Health’s mandate.
“We went further by proactively closing and draining the affected pools in the interest of absolute assuredness. This was above and beyond what was required.”
The spokesperson said they had made some changes since the outbreak, incorporating UV treatment into pool operations at regular intervals, rather than relying on triggers to activate it.
“We have also mandated it to be turned on for every faecal reading registered.”
Katrina Bennett has worked for NZME in its Wellington newsroom since 2008. She started as a radio reporter for Newstalk ZB before becoming a newsreader. She now manages the newsroom.
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