Milwaukee Hit by Mysterious Digestive Illness

The mayor Wednesday urged residents to boil their drinking water after tests found an organism in eight water samples in this city where a mysterious digestive illness has sickened thousands of people.

The organism found in the water so far hasn’t been linked to the illness, which has closed some schools. But Mayor John Norquist said that as a precaution people should boil any city water used for drinking or washing food.

The mayor stopped short of saying there was contamination of the water supply, which originates in Lake Michigan. The organism found in eight water samples was not identified.

State and federal officials have been helping the city in trying to trace the cause of the illness, said Paul Nannis, Milwaukee’s health commissioner. It has struck hundreds of residents with diarrhea, vomiting and fever.

Nannis said one suspected cause of the illness is a virus called the Norwalk agent, which is frequently linked to community epidemics of digestive disorders. Specimens have been sent to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for analysis, but the results may not be available for several weeks.