Abstract
Algae and cyanobacteria are present in all aquatic environments. We do not have a good sense of the extent of human and animal exposures to cyanobacteria or their toxins, nor do we understand the public health impacts from acute exposures associated with recreational activities or chronic exposures associated with drinking water. We describe the Harmful Algal Bloom-related Illness Surveillance System (HABISS) and summarize the collected reports describing bloom events and associated adverse human and animal health events. For the period of 2007–2011, Departments of Health and/or Environment from 11 states funded by the National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention contributed reports for 4534 events. For 2007, states contributed 173 reports from historical data. The states participating in the HABISS program built response capacity through targeted public outreach and prevention activities, including supporting routine cyanobacteria monitoring for public recreation waters. During 2007–2010, states used monitoring data to support196 public health advisories or beach closures. The information recorded in HABISS and the application of these data to develop a wide range of public health prevention and response activities indicate that cyanobacteria and algae blooms are an environmental public health issue that needs continuing attention.
Highlights
Algae and cyanobacteria are present in all aquatic environments, and these organisms produce some of the most potent natural toxins known
We describe Harmful Algal Bloom-related Illness Surveillance System (HABISS) and summarize the collected reports describing bloom events and suspected adverse health effects associated with exposure to freshwater cyanobacteria blooms or marine Harmful Algae Bloom (HAB) and their associated toxins
National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH) partnered with state representatives from the 11 funded states (FL, IA, MD, MA, NC, NY, OR, SC, VA, WA, WI; note that not all states were funded for the entire period from 1998 to 2013) and representatives from the University of Miami and Wright State University to develop the initial data collection instruments for HABISS
Summary
Algae and cyanobacteria are present in all aquatic environments, and these organisms produce some of the most potent natural toxins known. Efforts to understand algae and cyanobacteria blooms and the full spectrum of public health effects were initially supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Cooperative Agreements (Program Announcement Number 98019 (1998); Program Announcement Number 03102 (2003); CDC-RFA-EH08-801 (2009)). This funding was intended to support state responses to the purported adverse human health and ecologic effects associated with the presence of the dinoflagellate, Pfistieria psicicida in the Chesapeake Bay [1]. Original goals for the NCEH funding were to develop a case definition for disease associated with exposure to P. piscicida and any toxins it produced, conduct health surveillance, conduct analytic studies, and develop a biomarker of exposure/effect
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