![]() You may also contact the DNR's Ecological Services Division by writing to: Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Ecological Services Section, Box 25, DNR Building, 500 Lafayette Rd., St. ![]() They can answer any additional questions you might have about using copper sulfate, how to apply it, application rates and so on.įor questions on identifying and managing aquatic plants, or swimmer's itch write or call the Regional DNR headquarters nearest you telephone numbers and addresses are listed below. Apply for a permit to use copper sulfate at your Regional Fisheries Office. If you have tried these strategies and nothing seems to work applying copper sulfate to kill the snails might provide some relief. But, much like poison ivy, your sensitivity to swimmer's itch will increase with each exposure. The literature indicates that only about 30 to 40 percent of the population is sensitive to swimmer's itch infection. ![]() You may have noticed that some people show no symptoms of swimmer's itch even though others swimming at the same time and place break out severely. Not everyone is sensitive to swimmer's itch. There are several over the counter remedies your pharmacist can recommend to help relieve the discomfort, but please see your physician to get a definitive diagnosis. The severe itch and accompanying welt is an allergic reaction to the infection. Your body's immune system detects the cercaria as a foreign protein, attacks and kills it shortly after it penetrates your skin. The good news is the blood fluke which causes swimmer's itch cannot complete its life history in the human body. Usually only a small percent of the snails in a lake carry the infection, and they may not be the ones around your dock. The relief provided may be temporary and more than one treatment may be required. The copper sulfate will only kill the snails present at the time of application, any snails which enter the area afterwards will not be effected. Infected snails release the life stage (cercaria) that actually causes swimmer's itch. If these strategies don't work for you there is the option of getting a permit from the DNR to use copper sulfate to kill the snails which are an intermediate host of the parasite. Solution number 3, dry off with a towel soon after getting out of the water. So, if you did not pick up an infection in the water you can further reduce the odds of getting swimmer's itch by drying off with a towel. The organism in the droplets of water on your skin will look for somewhere to go as the droplet of water evaporates, into your skin is their next refuge. If swimmer's itch is a problem in the lake you live on it is important to towel off immediately after getting out of the water. This strategy may not be practical if you don't swim or have young children who want to play in the water near shore.Īlthough the cercaria can enter your skin while you are wading or swimming you can also carry the critters out of the water with you. Strategy number 2, avoidance, swim from a raft or boat farther out from shore where you are less likely to come into contact with the cercaria. This behavior makes it easy for them to be moved around the lake, and tends to concentrate their numbers along the shoreline. The cercaria only lives for a day or so and typically inhabits the upper few inches of water which increases its chances of coming into contact with a duck (its definitive host). The life stage that causes swimmer's itch is called a "cercaria" which is an immature stage of a blood fluke common in waterfowl. If ducks do not congregate around your dock the swimmer's itch organism may originate somewhere else in the lake and is being brought to your shoreline wave action or currents. If ducks don't hang out around your property then the source of the problem may be elsewhere in the lake and this strategy won't help much. Place the wind sock or statue on your dock and move it around every other day or so, so the ducks do not become accustom to it. If ducks like to loaf on your dock do what you can to discourage them. So if you, or maybe your neighbors, are currently feeding waterfowl (ducks and geese) from your dock, stop. However, an important fact to consider is that the critter starts out in the intestinal lining of waterfowl, mostly ducks. The organism which causes swimmer's itch has a complicated life history. To understand which actions make sense it is important to look at the organism's biology. There are actions you can take to help reduce the odds of getting swimmer's itch. REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION FROM MINNESOTA DNR ECOLOGICAL SERVICES, ST.
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