The State of Illinois clos Six Flag...

The State of Illinois clos Six Flags Great America's popular water park for a inferior day Saturday after as many as four visitors came down with a gastrointestinal illness.

Hurricane Harbor could reopen as early as today, moreover officials could not say for trustworthy as of Saturday evening.

The water park was being "hyperchlorinated" Saturday to make secure that cryptosporidium, a parasite that can cause diarrhea and vomiting, was not ready said Melaney Arnold, spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Public Health.

The four family affected are from Wisconsin and visited the park Aug. 7 officials said. couple later became infected with cryptosporidium, officials said. sum of two units others are suspected to have the disease, which is caused from the parasites getting into their digestive combination of parts to form a whole Arnold said.

Doctors treating the four reported the situation to Great America, which reported the moot point to the health department Friday, Arnold said. She said it was traced to the park because "there were no other frequent exposures among these people."

Arnold said Great America complied with the beg to close the 30-acre water park, which uncloseed last year.

"It's possible this is no fault of their own" Arnold said of the park. "Somebody brings in the illness, it learns in the water, and some one gets it from the water."

HEALTH DEPARTMENT ordeals

Great America spokesman Jim Taylor said the park agreed to shut up as a precaution to double-check its facilities. on the other hand he emphasized in a statement that "there is no evidence linking this to our water park, and no evidence linking the illness of a small form into groups of friends to our collection of standing waters We have received no reports or complaints from our thousands of other visitors or from the dozens of lifeguards who are in the collection of standing waters every hour of every operating day."

The health department was at the park July 24 and lay the foundation of chlorine levels to be acceptable, Taylor said.

dnewbart@suntimes.com

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