Infection rates exceed one in three adults in some major African cities and reach 70 percent of women tested in some prenatal clinics. The cells, called pfiesteria piscicida, were originally a harmless plant. But in North Carolina, pollution has caused pfiesteria to mutate into a highly toxic killer preying on fish. When pfiesteria attacks, it uses its poison to stun the fish, who lose all orientation. Then the organism proceeds to eat the fish alive.
American fishermen complain that pfiesteria kills millions of fish.
Marine experts warn that the same could happen in the North Sea. Humans became targets too. More and more people living and working along the U.S. coast began to suffer from open sores which would not heal, had headaches and memory loss. In one experiment, pfiesteria cells were put into human blood. They immediately attacked and swallowed all blood cells.