November 13, 1997. Copyright, 1997, Graphic News. All rights reserved

FLESH-EATING ÔCELL FROM HELLÕ THREATENS EUROPE
By Oliver Burkeman

London, November 13, Graphic News:  A SINGLE-CELLED organism which has killed millions of fish in America and damages the human nervous system poses a threat to Europe too, scientists have warned.
Pfiesteria piscicida Ð which has decimated U.S. fish stocks in the east coast Chesapeake Bay area in the last year Ð was discovered in 1988 after lying dormant for millennia in sea-bed sediment. Releasing toxins that damage the fishesÕ nervous systems, it attacks their skin cells, causing lesions, and gorges on their blood before returning to the silt.
Humans are also at risk: scientists studying Pfiesteria and local fishermen have complained of mental problems, fatigue and headache, as well as rashes and sores. North Carolina State University biologists JoAnn Burkholder, who named the organism, and her colleague Howard Glasgow both suffered severe memory loss. 
Now EuropeÕs fisheries face an outbreak of the microbe, according to Professor Jacqueline McGlade of Warwick University, England. She believes it came to Scotland in ships using water and silt from U.S. coastal waters as ballast, and could now contaminate the North Sea.
Scientists are divided over the cellÕs chances of survival in EuropeÕs marine conditions. It flourishes in warm water with high concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus. McGlade argues that the North Sea, fed by the Gulf Stream, is sufficiently warm and nutrient-rich for Pfiesteria Ð hardy enough to survive immersion in sulphuric acid Ð to flourish. But British government researchers at the Scottish Office say North Sea temperatures of 12-14¡C pose far less risk than Chesapeake BayÕs typical range of 12-26¡C.
Peter Burkhill, of Plymouth Marine Laboratory, said that although Pfiesteria thrives in subtropical estuaries not found in Europe, ÔthatÕs not to say it couldnÕt be important here... and, for example, oyster ponds off the Mediterranean coast of France might provide an environment closer to that in Carolina.Õ But a spokesperson for the UK Ministry of Agriculture said they were unaware of the presence of the cell in British waters.
Pollution has been blamed for awakening Pfiesteria from its long sleep. Experts think the Carolina outbreak was caused by the leakage of nutrient-rich waste into the sea from the farms which house the stateÕs 10 million pigs, as well as human sewage and air pollution. 
The costs are compounded by unjustified panic, according to Burkholder, who told a U.S. Congress committee last month that the withdrawal of Chesapeake seafood from supermarket shelves, at a cost of some U.S.$15-20, was an over-reaction. She says the organism does not contaminate seafood.
ENDS

Sources: Reuters, U.S. Geological Survey (+1 703 648 4583)