Can you get any diseases from swimming in the ocean? If so, do they only come from swallowing water? Thanks!?

Answer 1

Yesm you can get diseases from swimming in ANY body of water.

The CDC Reports:
"What are recreational water illnesses? RWIs are illnesses that are spread by swallowing, breathing, or having contact with contaminated water from swimming pools, spas, lakes, rivers, or oceans. Recreational water illnesses can cause a wide variety of symptoms, including gastrointestinal, skin, ear, respiratory, eye, neurologic and wound infections. The most commonly reported RWI is diarrhea. Diarrheal illnesses can be caused by germs such as Crypto, short for Cryptosporidium, Giardia, Shigella, norovirus and E. coli O157:H7."

"Lakes, rivers, and oceans can become contaminated with germs from sewage, animal waste, water runoff following rainfall, fecal accidents, and germs rinsed off the bottoms of swimmers. It is important to avoid swallowing the water because natural recreational water is not disinfected. Avoid swimming after rainfalls or in areas identified as unsafe by health departments. Contact your state or local health department for results of water testing in your area or go to EPA's beach site or their National Health Protection Survey of Beaches. "



For more info, check the CDC website on RWIs
http://www.cdc.gov/healthyswimming/index.htm

Hope this helps!