Girl, 2, Dies Of E. Coli Contracted At Water Park

ATLANTA - A 2-year-old girl has died of complications from an E. coli infection, the first fatality from an outbreak last month traced to a recreational water park.

McCall Akin was one of 26 children who got the bacteria at White Water Park in June. McCall, infected on June 11, died yesterday at Scottish Rite Children's Medical Center.

"We're all heartbroken," said the park's general manager, Sonny Horton. "Our thoughts today go out to the family. We're just deeply saddened by it."

The bacteria were spread through one or more fecal accidents in a kiddie pool, health officials said. At least one other child, a 4-year-old girl, remains at Scottish Rite in fair condition.

Since the outbreak, White Water has installed a computerized chlorine filtration monitoring system that gives hourly chlorine-level readings. An alarm is sounded if chlorine levels go below 1.5 parts per million parts of water. Cobb County's standard is more than 1 part per million.

The mother of a 3-year-old boy who contracted the bacteria filed a lawsuit last Friday against the company that owns White Water. Anne Hilbert of Woodstock, Ga., is seeking $31,000 to cover her son Michael's hospital bills and unspecified damages from Silver Dollar City of Branson, Mo.