Copyright 1998 Palm Beach Newspaper, Inc.
The Palm Beach Post
May 24, 1998, Sunday, MARTIN-ST. LUCIE EDITION
SECTION: LOCAL, Pg. 1B
LENGTH: 663 words
HEADLINE: CONFUSION REIGNS OVER SAFETY OF RIVER WATER
BYLINE: Sally D. Swartz, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
BODY:
Bud Jordan, head of the St. Lucie River Initiative, worries
when he watches water-skiers or sees crabbers set their traps
in the St. Lucie and Indian rivers.
A South Florida Water Management District employee snorkels
the rivers as part of her job, but doesn't want her children to
go in the water.
A Martin County Health Department employee and her teenagers
swim without fear.
Fishermen vacillate between ignoring the warnings on days they
catch healthy fish and washing their hands with bleach water when
they reel in sick ones.
Since water managers reduced the flow of fresh water from overflowing
Lake Okeechobee into the rivers, the numbers of sick fish have
dropped dramatically.
But fear and confusion about whether the water is safe remain.
Martin County health officials have logged 38 health complaints
from 26 people who believe their ailments are related to the epidemic
of fish with sores, lesions and rotting flesh that began appearing
in the rivers in early March.
Scientists found Cryptoperidiniopsis, a microscopic algae they believe may be making the fish sick. Crypto is related to Pfiesteria, another microbe blamed for killing fish and making people sick in North Carolina and Maryland. But Crypto hasn't yet been linked to any human illness. The Palm Beach Post, May 24, 1998
''We're looking at this as a fish disease event,'' state
biologist Ann Forstchen said.
And health officials stress they are only gathering information, not judging whether callers' complaints are or could be caused by contact with river waters.
''We're taking everything people tell us,'' said Valerie Gryniuk,
public health administrator. ''If people stood in or beside the
water and now say they have a headache or a rash, we write it
down. We're not discounting anybody. These complaints may - or
may not - be due to exposure to the water. But this is not an
outbreak.''
Thirteen complaints about skin problems range from a rash or
a cut to a prior diagnosis that predates the sick fish epidemic.
Some callers say they haven't had contact with the water for two
years or more, but their complaints also are recorded.
Gryniuk said a state scientist, using nearly $ 200,000 provided by the Centers for Disease Control, soon will start statewide ''surveillance'' of complaints from people who believe their illnesses may be linked to inland waters. The Palm Beach Post, May 24, 1998
Alan Rowan, a scientist who studies epidemics, is checking
with other states that have dealt with illnesses linked to microscopic
algae in the waters. He hopes to learn survey methods and questions
to ask. His studies probably will center on estuaries such as
the St. Lucie River, where fresh and salt water mix and microbes
such as Crypto have been found.
Pfiesteria, which caused temporary memory loss, learning problems, rashes and sores during the huge fish kills in North Carolina and Maryland, has not been found in Florida waters, Department of Environmental Protection biologists say.
A Stuart physician who asked that his name not be used said
he has examined two people who believed they had Pfiesteria-type
symptoms, but he believes neither is suffering from exposure to
Pfiesteria.
Tests on water at popular swimming areas in the Martin and
St. Lucie rivers show they're safe by usual state standards. But
little is known about Crypto, and questions without answers abound.
''A healthy fish is fine to eat,'' Gryniuk said. ''But how
do we know what's a healthy fish? And how big is the risk? We
breathe air and there are germs in the air.''
The health department's warnings haven't changed from the
time sick fish were first found: Don't eat fish with lesions.
Don't swim in waters with sick fish or dead fish.
Keeping the problem in perspective is important, officials
say.
''We've had more calls with questions about the bad air (the
smog haze that blanketed the area last week) than we have had
about the sick fish situation,'' said Nancy Kermes, a nurse who
records river-related health complaints.
LOAD-DATE: May 25, 1998