| Fact | Source |
|---|
| People who get sick from it must come in direct contact with the water or air around it when the microbe turns toxic. That's a rare, brief phase lasting no more than three hours... | A Preemptive Strike Against Pfiesteria Hysteria - By Angus Phillips |
| ...there is no evidence Pfiesteria can work through the food chain and into the fish or waterfowl you would eat. Stomach enzymes apparently break it down, so a rockfish or blue that eats a sick menhaden would not carry the bug... | A Preemptive Strike Against Pfiesteria Hysteria - By Angus Phillips |
| ...conditions promoting Pfiesteria outbreaks are slow-moving, warm tidal backwaters
where excessive nutrients from farms or sewage plants foster blooms of algae and other minute life forms...They are unlikely in faster-flowing rivers or in the bay, where the water runs deep and fast with
current and tide. | A Preemptive Strike Against Pfiesteria Hysteria - By Angus Phillips |
| Pfiesteria likely has been in this region for a long time (thousands of years) as a nontoxic predator on other organsisms (bacteria, algae, small animals). Many experiments in lab and field indicate, however, that human influences (e.g., excessive nutrient enrichment...) have slowly shifted the environment to encourage Pfiesteria's fish-killing activity.
| NCSU Aquatic Botany Laboratory Pfiesteria piscicida Homepage |
| Pfiesteria piscicida has a complex life cycle that includes at least 24 flagellated, amoeboid, and encysted stages or forms. Both flagellated and amoeboid forms are known to be toxic to fish. | NCSU Aquatic Botany Laboratory Pfiesteria piscicida Homepage |
| Low levels of sores and lesions occur naturally every year in all fish communities. Secondly, there are many types of abnormalities in fish that are not lesions from Pfiesteria piscicida. What is a Lesion? | MARYLAND DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES Fish Health Facts |
Even if you don't use the Bay or enjoy its seafood, the potential economic effects should worry everyone. Already the commercial fishing industry that depends upon the Bay is beginning to suffer. As a sportfisherman, I have my issues with the practices of the commercial fishing industry...but with a threat such as this we need a united effort.
This bizarre microorganism can take on as many as two dozen different forms. Under specific conditions, such as high nutrient levels and the presence of large schools of fish, Pfiesteria’s population increases and it changes into a fierce predator whose toxins can paralyze and then begin to eat the flesh of fish.