Posted: July 23rd, 2007 - 12:15pm by Doug Powell

After hundreds of riders in the annual Test of Metal mountain bike race in Squamish, B.C. were stricken with campylobacter last month, Dr. Paul Martiquet, the chief medical officer for Vancouver Coastal Health, was quoted as saying today that,

"This was an outbreak with a high attack rate. Our future advice to the race organizers is to inspect the route prior to the race to ensure it is not littered with animal feces, and not end the race at the horse ring. If there is any horse poop, they have to remove it."

Heavy rains prior to the race apparently littered the trails with animal feces. And the race concluded in a horse ring.

Test of Metal's organizer, Cliff Miller, apparently shrugging off the advice, was cited as saying he had been told by health officials that the infection was a "unique event" and there was, as yet, no "smoking gun" to pinpoint the source of the bacteria, adding,

"If they find one, we will do everything in our power to mitigate the risk to riders. Who is to say that it couldn't happen next year if they can't pinpoint where it came from? ... mud goes with mountain biking."

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