Lake Erie : Infected Bacteria
Research has shown that toxins from these bacteria called microcystin can make animals and people sick when they come into contact with infected water of Lake Erie.
- Lake Erie is the fourth largest of the five Great Lakes of North America.
- It forms the boundary between Canada(Ontario) to the north and the United States to the west, south, and east.
- The lake’s principal tributary rivers are the Detroit (carrying the discharge of Lake Huron), Huron, and Raisin rivers of Michigan etc.
- The lake discharges at its eastern end through the Niagara River.
- It is an important link in the Lawrence Seaway.
- Microcystin is a single-celled freshwater cyanobacterium that forms colonies surrounded by mucilage.
- The genus Microcystis contains several species which often form massive blooms and which produce toxins.
