The Waterworks Flu

A tiny parasite gets the blame for making thousands of Milwaukeeans miserable

Only the microbiologists were happy last week as Milwaukee turned into a huge, spontaneous laboratory for learning more than anyone wanted to know about what a parasite can do to an unsuspecting population. Or if they were not exactly happy, then at least very busy, trying to explain how something so tiny could cause troubles so huge. DON'T DRINK THE WATER, shouted the city's headlines, as thousands of area residents, including the mayor's wife and infant son, contracted a flulike illness that has emptied drugstores of antidiarrhea medications and sent hundreds to hospital emergency rooms. One businessman actually brought water back...

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