From the Congressional briefing by "Field, John" <John.Field@MAIL.HOUSE.GOV>

In mid-February 1998, scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's marine biotoxin program in Charleston, SC,announced that a test for Pfiesteria toxin in natural waters was ready to undergo field trials.

On Mar. 12, 1998, scientists with the FL Dept. of Environmental Protection announced that microscopic organisms, capable of causing lesions on fish, had been found in FL's Indian and St. John's Rivers, drainages in the Chesapeake Bay region, and in NC, and were identified as Cryptoperidiniopsis sp. [Assoc Press]