Dozens fall ill after Sunderland triathlon, health chiefs confirm

At least 57 people fell ill with diarrhoea and vomiting after a World Triathlon Championship Series event in Sunderland, health chiefs confirmed.

Tests are being conducted to establish possible causes of the outbreak.

Following news of illness among competitors, concerns were raised about water quality results from 26 July which showed high E.coli levels.

British Triathlon said the water tested was outside the swim area for the event held on 29 July.

The swim leg of the World Triathlon Series event took place at Roker Beach.

Alongside the elite races, about 2,000 people took part in a series of combined swimming, cycling and running events across the weekend.

The UK Health Security Agency said it had been notified of 57 cases of diarrhoea and vomiting involving people who took part and was working with British Triathlon "to encourage anyone who participated and has or had symptoms after the event to contact the organisers".

A spokeswoman for the agency said: "The team will undertake an investigation of cases as is routine when they are notified of gastroenteritis.

"This will involve a detailed questionnaire to establish more information on where illness may have been acquired.

"The team will also send sample pots to cases so that stool samples can be laboratory tested to discover the cause of illness and determine if there are any common pathogens involved. This process is currently under way.

"As is standard in these investigations we would not speculate as to causes until we have received lab-confirmed cases and undertaken further epidemiological investigations."

Australian Jake Birtwhistle was among participants who took to social media to post about being ill.

Describing himself as feeling "pretty rubbish since the race", he said the swim "should have been cancelled".

In a statement on Thursday, British Triathlon said the 26 July tests taken by the Environment Agency were part of that organisation's regular testing in the local area and were "taken outside of the Roker Pier arms and not in the body of water used for the swim".

British Triathlon conducted its own tests within the swim leg area in accordance with World Triathlon guidelines before and after the event, it said, and the results were deemed acceptable.

Government guidelines say open water swimming can increase the risk of stomach bugs and more severe infections caused by micro-organisms such as E.coli.

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