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Picture this. You're out hiking on one of the Bow Corridors many hot summer days; you reach down into a pristine stream, and splash a few handfuls on your face to cool down. A few weeks later you begin to notice a change coming upon you--and an unpleasant one at that. It begins with a little diarrhea and progresses to a lot of diarrhea. This is often accompanied by abdominal cramps, nausea, loss of appetite, weight loss, bloating, and abnormal amounts of gas. Chances are you've been chosen as a host for a tiny, single celled animal known as Giardia ("gee-ARD-ee-uh") lamblia. The simple act of splashing water on your face allowed enough of these little critters into your body to bring on the symptoms of Giardiasis, more commonly known as "Beaver Fever".

Fear not, this unpleasant malady is curable--although the cure is often not much more pleasant. The Giardia are small. In fact more than 15,000 can fit on the head of a pin. Unfortunately, it only takes a dozen or so to bring on Giardiasis. Once ingested (as you licked your lips), they quickly made their way to your small intestine and will eventually leave your body, hidden within cysts, in your droppings. In a full blown case of Giardiasis, you may excrete hundreds of millions of cysts per day.

The cure involves a few weeks worth of the drug Flagyl. This bombards your intestinal tract with chemicals designed to kill Giardia and usually leaves your system somewhat worse for wear. As one author put it: "one's digestive system is never quite the same after a bout with Giardia".

Also of interest is the fact that many individuals that are infected will not come down with full-blown Giardiasis, but will act as asymptomatic carriers. They will pass the disease on without showing the symptoms themselves. These are the most effective agents in the spread of the disease to new water sources.

While it is true, that beaver do carry the disease, so do many other animals--including man. It's also likely that beaver on Forty Mile Creek were responsible for outbreaks in the water supply of Banff in past years. This resulted in a change to underground water supplies to prevent future invasions.

Man must take some of the responsibility for the recent spread of this disease into more and more areas. Poor sanitary practices and the inclusion of "man's best friend" in the outdoor experience have allowed Giardia to move into areas not frequented by beaver. Dogs are even less particular than some hikers as to where they do their business.

As backcountry use increases, so does the spread of Giardia. However, as more backcountry campsites include proper latrine facilities, and people become more conscious of proper sanitation, we may be able to slow the spread.

Prevention is till the best cure. Proper treatment of drinking water can help make sure the little guys are not allowed into your intestines. There seems to be some dispute as to the effectiveness of various chemical treatments so the two best remedies are boiling for at least 5 minutes or filtration. Since they can be as small as 10-20 microns, you will need a filter capable of filtering something this small.

Within Banff and Kananaskis, studies revealed only 2 out of 58 beaver to have the parasite. Of 85 human samples only one showed evidence of Giardia. These levels are much lower than many areas in the United States not to mention the rest of the world.

The main purpose of this column is one of awareness. If you fill your water bottles at home (where you left Rover), and make sure you're more than 100 metres from any water source before defecating, you'll help ensure a pleasant trip for yourself and future hikers.