Public Notice of Swimmer’s Itch on the Lake • Lake Stevens, WA

There have been experiences of Swimmers Itch on the in style seashores round Lake Stevens.  

Swimmer’s itch may cause raised, itchy, purple bumps that seem inside hours of swimming. It is often short-term, and signs normally final not than per week. It is attributable to a waterborne parasite, the free-swimming stage of a flatworm. The life cycle is a bit sophisticated, however it entails waterfowl and snails. Humans can’t be hosts to the parasites, however they’ll by accident decide up the parasites when swimming. When the swimmer will get out of the water, the parasites burrow into the swimmer’s pores and skin after which die, inflicting an allergic response within the pores and skin and the following itchy bumps.  

There actually isn’t any good option to deal with a swimmer’s itch, however it may be minimized by toweling off or showering instantly after lake use.  

• Since this situation is related to waterfowl, it’s usually seen in areas with excessive concentrations of waterfowl such because the geese on the in style seashores.
• Feeding the geese encourages the geese to collect in giant numbers within the park.
• DO NOT FEED the geese, that is the perfect prevention of swimmer’s itch occurring at our in style swimming seashores. Be a part of the answer and educate others in case you see somebody feeding geese.

For further info or issues please contact the Snohomish County Health District at or 425-339-5200, or attain out to the Environmental Programs Team at 425-622-9442.