photosynthesizing, using chloroplasts they’ve stolen from algae they’ve eaten previously. The feeding frenzy over, they revert to their cyst form and return to the sediment.
The above scenario is chilling enough, without taking into consideration the fact that these same microorganisms have a powerful enough toxin to cause immuno-suppression in humans. There have been many cases of neurological damage in humans documented, neurological damage that is linked to the deadly toxins secreted by pfiesteria piscidia. The dinoflagellate is normally a nontoxic organism, but researchers theorize that changes in environmental factors may catalyze the organisms to produce toxins lethal to fish and suspected as harmful to humans, “Last summer, pfiesteria was linked to fish kills in Maryland and Virginia and was suspected to be the cause of human illness among fishers, boaters and other people who use the waterways in those states” (CDC 9). There are some researchers, however, who feel that the supposed “cell from hell” is not responsible for the fish kills in mid-Atlantic states coastal waterways. They argue it is a fungal disease responsible for the fish-kills and not pfiesteria piscidia. This analysis will discuss the outbreaks of pfiesteria in this country, with an emphasis on the pfiesteria outbreaks in Maryland waterways and what types of legislation and efforts are being mounted to adequately deal with the problem. A conclusion will address the concerns of future research on pfiesteria, an organism that has become deadly as a possible result of human activity.
The pfiesteria blooms in North Carolina are significant because of their size and occurrence frequency, but also because it was at North Carolina State University where researchers first discovered and described the organism. Dr. JoAnn Burkholder, a freshwater botanist at the University, discovered and described pfiesteria piscidia after it was linked to fis...