MONROE COUNTY, Ga. — School is out, and as summer vacation heats up, the 13WMAZ newsroom has gotten another complaint about problems at a central Georgia water park.
Is it true?
A viewer wrote to us about High Falls Water Park in Monroe County. They said kids had gotten sick after playing there.
According to Michael Hokanson with the North Central Health District, that viewer is right.
"On Thursday, June 13th, we started getting reports that people were starting to feel some gastrointestinal symptoms," he said. "They talked about going to the water park in Monroe County, that seemed to be a common factor."
Hokanson said so far, 17 people have reported symptoms. Most are young.
"The majority of those that are symptomatic are minors," he said.
Public health officials started conducting tests.
"Working with our epidemiology team as well as our environmental health team, we started an investigation," said Hokanson.
So we can verify officials are investigating after more than a dozen people reported falling ill after visiting High Falls Water Park.
The park's owner, Deann Oliver, declined to speak on camera, but over the phone, said as of Friday, the park is totally safe. She added that park officials are "fully cooperating with the health department."
Hokanson seemed to corroborate that.
"Our environmental health folks went out to test the water (Thursday),' said Hokanson. They "didn't see anything suspicious."
Hokanson says inspectors returned Friday for another look. They tested all four of the park's pools and all of its food vendors. All of the tests, according to Hokanson, came back clean.
"As of right now, there's no issue with the park remaining open," he said.
So far, the water park remains open. As for what comes next, Hokanson says samples from people showing symptoms have been sent to the Georgia Public Health Lab in Decatur.
Once they're analyzed, he says authorities should have a better idea of the source of the symptoms.
The park's owner says they maintain the "highest possible standard" of water quality.