Accessed: Feb 13 2019Ĭort WW (1928) Further observations on schistosome dermatitis in the United States (Michigan).

Michigan Department of Natural Resources. (2004) Compilation of databases on Michigan lakes. Mich Acad XXIV:7–23īlankespoor HD, Cameron SC, Cairns J (1985) Resistance of pulmonate snail populations to repeated treatments of copper sulfate. Ultimately, while CuSO 4 was confirmed to significantly reduce populations of snails within the treatment area, it was found to have no significant impact on swimmer’s itch-causing parasites in the water, likely due to the free-swimming larval stages (cercariae) moving into the treatment area from surrounding regions.īlankespoor HD, Reimink RL (1991) The control of swimmer’s itch in Michigan: past, present, and future. We measured the effect on snail populations, as well as on the presence/abundance of swimmer’s itch-causing parasites using qPCR. In this study, we evaluated the impact of targeted CuSO 4 application to a specific recreational swimming area in a lake in Michigan. Previous research has found that the larval stage of the parasites responsible for swimmer’s itch are released from infected snails and are concentrated by onshore and alongshore winds, and thus, may not be affected by such focused applications. It is unclear whether targeted application of chemical molluscicides like CuSO 4 is effective for controlling swimmer’s itch. CuSO 4 is still sometimes applied specifically to areas of lakes where swimmer’s itch severity is high. Swimmer’s itch has historically been controlled by applying copper sulfate (CuSO 4) to lakes as a way to eliminate snails that serve as the intermediate hosts for swimmer’s itch-causing parasites.

Swimmers itch michigan