"It has been overwhelming," the mom told KOAA."Sometimes, the nights where she's been up, screaming, crying, even after medication, I've honestly sat there and cried just looking at her blisters."The disease is most commonly spread through children and passes from child to child through fecal matter and spit. Lenig said she believed her daughter caught her infection because other parents aren't looking after their children who aren't potty-trained.
Hailey Zachary, a communicable disease epidemiologist, agreed that feces and spit might have been the source of Athena's infection. "It can be spread through things like water, but it's a lot less likely," she said. KOAA added that the county does not often inspect splash pads unless there are multiple reports of the same illness. In this case, officials have no reason to believe there is an outbreak of hand, foot, and mouth disease.