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Imagine being a fish swimming along in your school, minding your own business, looking for some minnows to eat for lunch. You are slowly going along the bottom of the water when suddenly you feel very groggy and tired. You can't move and then you feel pain along your ventral fin. Man that hurts. You are paralyzed. Within a couple of hours your schoolmates notice red sores on your side and ask you if you feel well. I wouldn't talk if I were you. You have those sores . . . .
News report: Massive fish kills have been reported along the North Carolina Coast. Full report at 6:00 PM EST. This is not an exerpt from a science fiction novel. Since 1991 a number of fish kills along the North Carolina coast have been reported. A dinoflagellate called Pfiesteria piscicida has been found to be responsible for these fish kills. This one-celled microorganism is found at the bottom of estuaries eating algae and bacteria. This bottom dweller form of Pfiesteria piscicida is called a cyst. However, if a hapless fish should come along, Pfiesteria piscicida can sense the fish's presence and release a toxin that will immobilize the fish. Pfiesteria piscicida then changes into a motile form called the zoospore stage. In this form it can swim up to the fish and release more toxin that will cause damage to the fish. The zoospore then goes into the sores on the fish. Pfiesteria piscicida then turns into an amoeboid form. The ameoboid form can digest fish flesh and, in a few hours, the fish is dead. Tough life for fish. Researchers like Joann M. Burkholder have identified the toxins released by Pfiesteria piscicida . These toxins can also cause skin sores on humans. Researchers who work with this microorganism have also developed memory loss, disorientation and speech impediments as a result of exposure to Pfiesteria piscicida's toxins. Now researchers are working in safer conditions and fewer problems are seen. Pfiesteria piscicida has been around for a long time. Why are we having problems now? Researchers do not know for sure but they are blaming the increasing amounts of sewage from swine and humans being dumped into the Atlantic. The Pfiesteria piscicida cysts eat algae and bacteria. Algae and bacteria become much more numerous when human and swine sewage is added to the water. If more algae and bacteria are available then Pfiesteria piscicida will multiply, resulting in more fish kills. Go To Page: 1 2
The copyright of the article With Pfiesteria Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction! in Microbiology is owned by Neal Rolfe Chamberlain. Permission to republish With Pfiesteria Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction! in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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