A man and his family went swimming in the water near Streitch Lane recently. After dealing with itching on his legs he says he won’t be swimming in that section of Lake Winnebago anytime soon.
Jake Vande Voort was swimming in the lake last weekend. After enjoying a day on the lake, he began scratching his legs.
“I didn’t feel it until the next morning. I woke up and I had welts all over my legs and realized, ‘oh shoot I have swimmer’s leg,’” said Vande Voort.
“You definitely want to avoid them as much as possible,” said Jennifer Bonzelet, an Environmental Health Specialist with Winnebago County. “As a adult you can probably handle some of it but were really concerned about little children and pets because they splash and they get the water in the mouth. We really don’t want you to ingest it.”
Ingesting it can cause vomiting, nausea and diarrhea. Bonzelet says if you come into contact with the bacteria, handling it immediately is key to preventing other problems like swimmers’ itch.
If they feel that they’ve come into contact with blue-green algae, wash off with soap and water as soon as possible. Bonzelet says if you can’t tell if it’s blue-green algae or not, just stay out of the water just to be safe.
