Rooney to CDC: Tell us what you know about how toxic algae blooms affect health

U.S. Rep. Francis Rooney, R-Naples, is pressing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to share what it knows about the short- and long-term health effects of the toxic algae that befouled Southwest Florida last year.

Rooney sent a letter Monday to the agency’s director, Robert Redfield.

"I said, 'Please do two things for us. One, tell us what you're working on about harmful algae blooms and what you've learned so far," Rooney said. "And, we're asking you to attend a roundtable that we're going to hold at Florida Gulf Coast University in May."

Now that the crisis is a few months behind the region, Rooney said agencies have had time to synthesize what happened. "I think the magnitude and intensity of that green slime kind of took everybody by surprise and everyone was scurrying around," he said. "Now we're going to have the benefit of a year and some perspective and hopefully some scientific and medical research."

Besides the CDC, officials of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the National Oceanography and Atmospheric Administration, and the Environmental Protection Agency are invited to Rooney's stakeholder meeting.

"In addition, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the Florida Division of Emergency Management and the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity have been asked to join the discussions," said Rooney staffer Christopher Berardi. "We are still in the process of confirming attendees. There will be members of the nonprofit and business community invited as well."

More:Florida toxic algae a long-term health concern, according to scientists, researchers

More:Florida algae crisis: Senate gives CDC $1 million to address illnesses from toxins

Rooney said he also hopes to include the university and Lee Health, both of which have been collecting information about the outbreak.

The congressman's efforts were welcome news to Calusa Waterkeeper John Cassani, who said his nonprofit is “happy to see any attention to public health risks from cyanotoxins.

"Florida is way behind on public health notification policies,” Cassani wrote in an email. “Many other states have already adopted actionable criteria based on monitoring and numeric thresholds that trigger public health advisories. Declaring a state of emergency without determining the specific public health risk is a disservice to residents exposed to cyanotoxins.”

Benjamin Haynes, a senior press officer with the CDC's infectious disease media team, wrote in an email that the agency had Rooney's letter "and will be responding accordingly. The agency has a long history studying (harmful algal blooms) and stands ready to assist the state of Florida, if requested, to protect our nation’s health."

In September, a U.S. Senate spending bill earmarked $1 million for the agency to respond to communities facing health issues because of blue-green algae exposure, with special priority given to locations like Lee County with a state of emergency designation within the previous 12 months because of blooms.

In Florida, 13 counties affected by algal blooms last summer fall under that designation.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-West Miami, who championed the bill, said the funding could be used for:

• Documenting and tracking illnesses and hospital stays related to algae exposure.
• Public health education campaigns.
• Any expenses that would help CDC officials and scientists on the ground to respond to particularly bad episodes of illnesses.
• Building CDC programs for reporting blooms.

Pointing out that many of those who live near the outbreaks are older, Rooney said, “Unknown threats could have serious ramifications (and) we must make sure we understand the health impacts of (the blooms) to mitigate the issues related to future outbreaks. This will require determination and new procedures, and the taxpayers deserve immediate action.”