One day after scientists said they found the first cell of pfiesteria off the Outer Banks, a group of North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland senators introduced congressional legislation that could increase federal funds to study the micro-organism that has killed millions of fish. The bill authorizes the federal Environmental Protection Agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services to coordinate research. It also paves the way for federal funding for research at state universities - including the Applied Aquatic Ecology Center being established at North Carolina State University. N.C. State scientist JoAnn Burkholder, a leading researcher of pfiesteria, helped discover the microorganism in 1990. Pfiesteria is a common organism but can take on a toxic form under certain environmental conditions.
Scientists believe pollution triggers the transformation.
The toxic form of pfiesteria has killed or sickened millions of fish in North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland and is suspected of causing health problems among watermen and researchers. It usually is associated with inland waters. But on Wednesday, a North Carolina water quality expert said a single cell of pfiesteria was found about a mile south of Corolla, in the ocean off the northern Outer Banks. He said swimming and fishing in that area, however, could continue. The No. 1 need is research into this mystery, what causes it and how we can stop it.