Swimmers seek safer shores after E. coli warning
Kits draws crowds as health advisory stays in effect at three other city beaches
Kitsilano Beach was busy Monday after Vancouver Coastal Health issued an advisory warning of unsafe levels of E. coli at three other city beaches.
The waters of Jericho, Sunset and English Bay beaches are teeming with bacteria, and bathers are advised not to swim, wade or participate in water sports — windsurfing in particular — that may splash water into their mouths.
“The advisory is for direct contact with the water,” said VCH medical health officer Dr. James Lu on Monday.
In terms of how it could affect health, Lu said the biggest concern would be diarrhea and other gastro-intestinal illnesses: “For the young or others with immunesystem problems, it could be devastating.”
Bobbi Mercer, a tourist from Ontario, hadn’t heard about the advisory when she took her daughter, five-year-old Katrina, for a play in the cleaner waves at Kits beach. “She loves the water and it’s her first time in the Pacific Ocean,” said Mercer, as Katrina splashed in the low surf.
Children, the elderly and the immune-compromised are particularly susceptible to the dangers of E. coli, said Lu at a news conference on Monday.
Lu said VCH has been fielding inquiries since the swimming advisory was issued Saturday for the three beaches.
Metro Vancouver samples beach water weekly during the summer, Lu said. E. coli counts are tracked per 100 millilitres of water. VCH looks at a 30-day average, or “geometric mean,” because counts can vary due to tidal action. “The benchmark we use is 200 E. coli per 100 mL,” Lu said.
VCH also tracks counts that are extraordinary, above the 200-per100-mL count. “If the sample is over 400 consecutively, we advise people that it is not a good idea (to swim),” Lu said.
Samples from last Thursday were over 400 per 100 mL, and a sample taken on Friday was also high, prompting the advisory.
Lu said VCH doesn’t know what is causing the increase in E. coli or how long it will last.
“In the last two or three years we are seeing these sort of sudden increases in E. coli counts. The reason is not really clear,” Lu said. “It could be increased boating, traffic around English Bay, malfunctions in terms of discharge on the shore, or more people using the beaches, or it could be climate change and the extended hot weather we are experiencing.”
They don’t know whether the E. coli is from human or animal sources.