Corrib tested for lethal toxin

Date Published: 14-Sep-2007

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is carrying out tests today on the quality of water in Lough Corrib after a dog became violently ill and was close to death hours after bathing in the lake.

The owner of the dog brought the pet to a veterinary clinic where it was established that exposure to cyanobacteria or Green-Blue Algae, in the Menlo area of Lough Corrib, was the cause of the dog’s sickness.

Humans can become sick from exposure to freshwater ‘pond scum’ – the colloquial name for cyanobacterial toxins – but it is very rare, according to a spokesperson for the EPA.

“It generally doesn’t affect….