Billings' Lake Elmo could have toxic algae, Montana health officials warn

[TexasTowelie]

State officials are urging the public to steer clear of the shallows at Lake Elmo, due to reports of blue-green algae.

The algae, native to Montana’s freshwater lakes and reservoirs, can develop into a potentially toxic bloom.

Signs posted at Lake Elmo State Park this week warn people not to swim or recreate in the areas where the colorful algae are present and to keep all animals out of the water.

Under certain conditions, the blooms can produce toxins that damage the skin, liver, and nerve cells, according to the state Department of Environmental Quality. Toxic algae killed three dogs in North Carolina this month, according to USA Today.

Read more: https://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/billings-lake-elmo-could-have-toxic-algae-montana-health-officials/article_ce3455df-844d-50db-80b4-fb00bcd0537e.html#tracking-source=home-top-story-1

[mopinko]

1. i've seen a few reports of dogs that have died after swimming in

waters w algae blooms.

scary shit.

[MontanaMama]

2. Dammit. In Montana?

[2naSalit]

3. Sheesh...

you should see the rivers! There's algae and some other stuff that makes a mat. I was wading a couple weeks ago and got some nasty toe funk that made my feet swell up for day! When it rains, we don't get lots of melted snow anymore, that's all gone. Now it's farm field runoff that fouls the river while the same farms are irrigating with water from the river dropping the depth and heating up the water.

[MontanaMama]

4. What the?

You got that from a river near you? OMG. That makes me so sad. Some summers we’ll get algae in the rivers over here...the Clark Fork mainly that is long and stringy but only at the very end of summer and it seems to go away when the cool fall rains come. This summer has been very cool compared to the last few years and the rivers look okay. BUT, the guys in my family went fishing up near St Ignatius early in the summer and came home with a crazy case of swimmer’s itch complete with an angry rash that took almost two weeks to resolve.

[2naSalit]

5. Swimmer's itch?

Never heard of that but I don't swim much. The Madison and Yellowstone Rivers have been getting too warm several years in a row. Agreed, this year has been wet and cool compared to most of the past fifteen but that's over now, too. It's way too hot for me and I'm out in it every day right now, and very thankful when the rain comes.

I don't know what the funk was but it stopped bothering me after a couple days but I had to put salve on my feet for a couple days to get rid of it.

[MontanaMama]

6. Swimmers itch is a weird parasite thing...

It’s been around forever but I hear that the allergic reaction that humans get from it is actually an “emerging infectious disease” by the CDC. The water is warming so these little schistosomes are becoming more prolific. My husband and son were just wade fishing but they came out of the water looking like they had the measles...it lasted a couple of weeks.

[2naSalit]

7. Yikes!

I'll keep that in mind next time I go wading.