Swimmers itch prevention6/11/2023 What can our lake association do about swimmer's itch? See the Leelanau Project 2017 Annual Report for more details. This helped reduce the number of mergansers on the lake, this year and in subsequent years, thus reducing the level of the parasite that causes swimmer's itch.įreshwater Solutions, LLC also created safer swim areas by using floatable baffles to enclose a swim area and then removing the snails within the enclosure or manually destroying the larvae in the water. Wildlife biologists were also hired to harass mergansers in the spring of 2010, before they nested on Walloon Lake. They removed 60 mergansers that were primarily resident birds to Walloon Lake. As part of the Walloon Lake Association's Swimmer's Itch Initiative, the association hired a wildlife management company to hunt mergansers during the 2009 fall hunting season. Another control method being used in our service area is Merganser Control Programs. The incidents of swimmer's itch were greatly reduced compared to pre-treatment levels. See a summary of the Higgins Lake 2015-2017 data ( ) for more details.Ĭontrol programs utilizing this method have been carried out on several lakes. The lake-wide snail infection levels have dropped more than 98% over that time period, and not surprisingly, both the number and severity of reported swimmer’s itch cases have also dramatically declined. biologists, they have trapped and relocated all resident common mergansers off Higgins Lake (Roscommon County, MI) since the summer 2015. Curt Blankespoor of the University of Michigan Biological Station. Harvey has passed the swimmer’s itch control torch to his son, Dr. His method involves removing the resident summer ducks, most often common mergansers, from a lake and relocating them to one of the Great Lakes where the snail host is absent. Harvey Blankespoor of Hope College in Holland, Michigan in the 1980s. One effective approach to controlling swimmer’s itch was developed by Dr. Before taking any of these drugs, however, consult your physician or dermatologist for advice. Antihistamines can be used to help relieve the itching while topical steroid creams may help to reduce the swelling. Over-the-counter drugs are available to reduce the symptoms of swimmer's itch. Swimmer's itch, although extremely annoying and uncomfortable, is not a communicable or fatal condition. For swimmer's itch, itching is limited to points of cercarial entry and will not spread or develop into water blisters. Chigger bites are usually located at points where clothing contacts the skin such as wrists, waist, ankles, etc. The itchy, reddened, and raised areas are sometimes confused with bites from chiggers or mosquitoes and the symptoms may be misdiagnosed as those resulting from poison ivy or stinging nettles. Usually the reddened areas reach their largest size after approximately 24 hours. Many suffering from swimmer’s itch experience the most severe itching early in the morning. Symptoms include intermittent periods of itching that will continue for several days. At each point of entry a small red spot may appear and begin to itch. This may occur either while swimming or immediately after leaving the water. Those who are sensitive may feel a dull, prickly sensation as the larvae burrow into the skin. Some who are exposed to the larvae never develop the itch. Not all people are sensitive to swimmer’s itch.
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