Boy contracts cholera after swimming in park's pond

A 12-year-old boy in New Mexico remains hospitalized after almost drowning in a park's pond and contracting cholera.

Gevion Lewis was swimming at the pond at Hillcrest Park on the Fourth of July, KRQE reported. He ran into difficulties while swimming and swallowed a large amount of pond water, officials said.

The pond water has tested positive for cholera, Clovis city officials said. Since the boy's near-drowning, the pond has been blocked off from public use, KRQE reported.

Signs have been installed around around the pond warning people not to swim because the water comes from the city’s waste water treatment plant.

City officials told KRQE that they are draining the pond and treating it with chlorine before refilling it with reclaimed water.

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