Swimmer’s Itch Solutions LLC (SIS) July 15,2017 Presentation at HLPOA Annual Meeting Now Posted

Swimmer’s Itch (SI) presentation on the status of the 3-year SI Reduction Effort, presented by Dr. Curt Blankespoor of Swimmer’s Itch Solutions LLC at this year’s HLPOA Annual Meeting, is posted below.  Of particular interest are slides 20, 21 and 22 that compare 2015 to 2016 to mid-July of 2017.  On each of these three slides is a chart showing the snail infestation percentage — anything over 2% of the snails being infected with the SI parasite represents an epidemic level of SI infestation.  In 2015, the average of all snails tested showed the highest lake-wide infection percentage Dr.’s Harvey and Curt Blankespoor had ever seen in their collective 50+ years of SI research — 3.9%.  This is reflected in the amount of red and orange depicted in 2015’s chart.  After working that year and the next two years removing Common Merganser (COME) hens and broods from the lake and sealing nesting sites, notice the complete lack of any red or orange on the 2017 chart.  The 2017 infection rate is down to only 0.14%.  What a dramatic improvement!  A long term maintenance program is now being planned to keep Higgins Lake at this low infection rate for years to come.

• Swimmer’s Itch Solutions LLC July 15, 2017 Status Report