Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are caused by algae and cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae. HABs are found in New Mexico lakes, streams, rivers, ponds, and other surface waters when water is warm, slow-moving, and full of nutrients such as nitrogen or phosphorous. Blooms grow fast and can look like foam, scum, or paint on the water's surface that is green, blue, brown, or red in color. While some blooms are easily detected, others are not because they grow near the bottom of a body of water.

Cyanotoxins and Human Health

Cyanobacteria can quickly grow out of control, producing cyanotoxins that can make people sick. Exposure to cyanotoxins may occur when:

• Swallowing contaminated water
• Breathing in toxins from the blooms
• Eating fish or shellfish that contain toxins
• Swimming in contaminated water

People may experience irritation to the skin, eyes, nose, throat, and lungs when exposed to cyanotoxins through touching or swimming in contaminated water or breathing in droplets of contaminated air. Small children are more likely to be affected by harmful algal blooms due to their small body size and the increased time they spend in the water. Depending on the cyanotoxin involved, symptoms may include:

• Stomach pain
• Headache
• Muscle weakness
• Dizziness
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea

If you need advice on how to relieve your symptoms, talk to your healthcare provider or call the poison control center at 1-800-222-1222.

What You Can Do

• Follow guidance on posted signs such as swimming advisories at area lakes and rivers.
• Stay out of the water if you see scum or color changes like paint-like streaks on the water's surface.
• Stay out of the water if it smells bad or has dead fish in it.

Concerns for Pets, Livestock, and Wildlife

Animals are at risk of being poisoned by cyanotoxins from swimming or drinking contaminated water, or eating fish or other animals contaminated with cyanotoxins. The toxin can make animals very sick and can even kill them within hours or days.

Dogs are especially at risk of ingesting cyanotoxins due to their behaviors around water. When they swim, drink, lick their fur, eat dead fish or other animals found near a bloom, they may become poisoned.

Symptoms of cyanotoxin poisoning in animals include:

• Excess salivation and vomiting
• Fatigue and/or staggered walking
• Difficulty breathing
• Convulsions
• Liver failure
• Death within hours or days

What You Can Do

If your pets or livestock go near or into water with a harmful algal bloom, immediately wash them off with clean water to keep them from licking cyanotoxins off their fur.

If your animal shows symptoms of cyanotoxin poisoning, call a veterinarian, the Animal Poison Control Center at 1-888-426-4435, or the Pet Poison Helpline at 1-855-764-7661. Note there are fees for the helplines.