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 VIBRIO The combination of warmer waters, nutrient pollution, and other factors in the Chesapeake Bay are contributing to the growth of bacteria called Vibrio that can cause life-threatening skin and blood infections and intestinal illnesses, according to Dr. Rita Colwell, former director of the National Science Foundation and current Distinguished University Professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and University of Maryland, College Park. Although infrequent, the number of annual Vibrio infection cases reported in both Virginia and Maryland has increased in recent years. In Virginia, the number has more than doubled over the last decade, from 12 in 1999 to 30 in 2008. Reports of infections have also risen in Maryland, but a change in reporting requirements in that state in 2003 complicates the picture there. In both states, it is unknown how many of these cases come from eating or handling shellfish from other regions. Nutrient pollution is nitrogen and phosphorus from many sources, including stormwater runoff from streets, farm fields, barnyards and lawns; discharges from sewage plants, septic tanks and industries; and air pollution from power plants, factories and vehicles that settles into the water.

 CYANOBACTERIA Nutrient pollution and warmer weather also stimulate the growth of harmful algal blooms. Blue green algae, also known as cyanobacteria, can cause liver disease, skin rashes, nausea, and vomiting. Dr. Peter Tango, Chesapeake Wa- tershed Monitoring Coordinator for the U.S. Geological Survey, recently co-authored a report that called harmful algal blooms a “significant and expanding threat to aquatic life, human health, and regional economies.” Between 2000 and 2006, Dr. Tango tested waters with cyanobacteria blooms and found that 31 percent had enough toxins to make the waters unsafe for children to swim in.

 CRYPTOSPORIDIUM During the summer, polluted runoff, animal waste, and sewage often create high bacteria levels at swimming beaches. In the Chesapeake Bay watershed, Pennsylvania had 22 closures at 17 swimming areas last summer; Maryland had 44 no-swimming advisories or closures at 31 beaches during the same period; and Virginia had 10 advisories at 6 beaches. But even these numbers might not reflect the true prevalence of pathogens at beaches, according to a Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health researcher. Dr. Thaddeus Graczyk has concluded that local health departments don’t test swimming areas often enough, thoroughly enough, or quickly enough to protect the public. A study by Dr. Graczyk found the dangerous protozoan pathogen Cryptosporidium (which local health departments do not test for) at levels that could infect people in 70 percent of weekend samples at a Baltimore County beach.

So, be careful out there people!

[Update – Oh, I almost forgot to mention that the EPA Beach Bacteria Monitoring Guidance you’ve heard so much good news about from the various cheerleaders out there, does not consider vibrio (a bacteria).

It explicitly rejects vibrio as a “native” bacteria, and puts exclusive emphasis on fecal sources and strains of bacteria.

But I don’t think those infected flesh wounds know the difference between native and human source bacteria. – end update]