In North Carolina, waste from hog farms has been identified as one of the culprits. It attacks fish viscously, leaving them dead and with gaping holes in their bodies. It also attacks human blood in laboratory tests. In North Carolina it is believed to have caused many health problems for humans who have come into contact with it. Watermen, divers, swimmers and others who have come in contact with pfeisteria infested waters have had lesions on their body and experienced irritableness and short-term memory loss.
People have difficulty remembering at the end of a sentence what they said at the beginning.
Fortunately the problems seem to at least partially go away when they remove themselves from water contact. Our office has received information several times this summer of fish being caught in the Potomac and Patuxent with lesions. Unlike the Pocomoke, there have been, as far as we know, no reports of human health problems in Southern Maryland. St. Mary's County Health Officer Dr. Ebenezer Israel confirms no human health related reports. And he says that the lesions can be caused by factors other than pfeisteria.