CDC warns not to swim with diarrhea, but all Twitter can focus on is the gif the agency used

By Rachel Trent, CNN

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning against swimming with diarrhea this summer, and the visual it’s using to give that warning is making quite a splash.

The agency tweeted a warning that “one person with diarrhea can contaminate the entire pool,” along with a cartoon gif of a girl going down a slide leaving a brown streak behind.

The CDC added a link to its guidance on diarrhea and swimming, but the comments on the tweet appeared to be concerned with what was behind the colorful graphic.

Many were grossed out, while others pointed out taxpayer dollars may have funded the work behind this.

If you can’t get past the sight of a cartoon repeatedly making her mark on the pool slide, here is the guidance the agency wants you to know:

• Stay out of the water if you are sick with diarrhea. If you have been diagnosed with cryptosporidium, don’t go back in the water until two weeks after diarrhea has completely stopped.
• Use test strips to make sure the water has a proper free chlorine (amount of chlorine available to kill germs) or bromine level and pH.
• Shower before you get in the water.
• Rinsing off in the shower for just 1 minute removes most of the dirt or anything else on your body that uses up chlorine or bromine needed to kill or inactivate germs.
• Don’t poop in the water.
• Don’t swallow the water.
• Take kids on bathroom breaks and check diapers every hour.

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