By admin 
MARICOPA, AZ (AZFamily) — The Pinal County Department of Public Health is investigating seven confirmed cases of E. coli a week after a private water company issued a boil water advisory over possible contamination.
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Officials said it is still not known if the cases are connected to the water. The county confirmed it received the reports and is working to determine if there is a connection between those sickened.
Hospital reports cases
The Pinal County Department of Public Health said it received a report from Exceptional Community Hospital – Maricopa about seven patients who tested positive for E. coli.
“You have to have those symptoms associated with E. coli in order for the hospital to test those people,” said Merissa Mendoza, director for public health.
Symptoms would be nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and gastrointestinal upset, Mendoza said.
“The lab notifies us if those results are positive,” Mendoza said.
Mendoza said the health department needs to be notified in case there is an ongoing issue with E. coli in food or water supplies.
“We can intervene and hopefully alleviate some more people getting sick,” she said.
The department conducts contact tracing, speaking with the person sickened and trying to determine where they had been and what they had eaten or had to drink over the previous five days.
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Boil water advisory issued, then dropped
Global Water, the main water provider for the city of Maricopa, issued a boil water advisory around that time over possible E. coli contamination. One resident, identified only as Anna, described feeling “frustration, irritation. Just being totally fed up.”
The advisory was dropped a day later after subsequent tests came back negative, according to Global Water.
Asked at the time whether the results meant E. coli could have been present or whether it was a false positive, Global Water’s Joanne Ellsworth said, “It could have been a false positive. We will be doing further assessments.”
When contacted again, Global Water said it had no update on whether there was E. coli in the water and, if so, where it came from. It will likely take several days to determine if there is a connection between the seven people sickened with E. coli and the water.
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