CDC to study how inhaled algae toxins affect Lake Okeechobee fishing guides

Federal scientists plan a first-ever study of Lake Okeechobee fishing guides to help understand the long-term health effects of the lake’s cyanobacteria blooms.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention intends to recruit 50 volunteers for the research, people “likely to be highly exposed to the blooms on Lake Okeechobee … fishing guides (and) people who do charter fishing expeditions,” said Lorraine Backer, senior scientist and environmental epidemiologist at the National Center for Environmental Health, in an exclusive interview with The News-Press.