The state Department of Health revealed Monday there was one
confirmed case of giardiasis in McKean County last month.

Ella Kuratomi, a health department spokesperson, said Monday
that one case of giardiasis was reported in McKean County in
December.

The illness, caused by a microscopic waterborne parasite,
doesn’t seem to be that big of a deal – Kuratomi said 1,000 to
2,000 cases are reported a year in more urban areas of the
state.

“One case in your area is not unusual,” she said.

Kuratomi went on to say the solitary confirmed case of
giardiasis gives no indication of a problem with Bradford City
water supply. Should another case arise, however, the state health
department would investigate them comparatively, she said, to try
to determine if there is a connection and related source.

The identity of the McKean County person infected in December,
or where he or she might have contracted it, was not known Monday
night.

“We get concerned when there is a clustering of cases (of
giardiasis),” Rich McGarvey, head of communications at the state
health department, said Monday. “Individual cases pop up now and
again.”

Kuratomi said she was not aware of any statistics regarding the
dangers of drinking municipal water versus well water or spring
water.

Bradford City Water Authority Executive Director Kim Benjamin
said Friday that the authority had not received any information
from any medical facility or the state health department about the
possibility of the water supply being or suspected of being
infected.

Kimberly Maben, communications manager for Bradford Regional
Medical Center, referred questions to the state Department of
Health on Friday.

The one-celled, microscopic parasite, Giardia intestinalis or
Giardia lamlia, lives in the intestine of humans and animals and
can cause gastrointestinal illness – nausea, stomach cramps, gas,
greasy stools and/or severe diarrhea, which can lead to dehydration
and weight loss, according to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention Web site.

The Bradford area saw a giardiasis epidemic in the fall of 1979.
It was estimated there were 2,900 people with the parasite, with
more than 400 cases officially confirmed in Bradford between
September of 1979 and the following spring. Officials determined
infected beavers were at the root of the epidemic, spurring the
“Beaver Fever” headlines at that time. To date, the 1979 outbreak
is one of the largest, single incidents of giardiasis infection in
the state.