NEW ORLEANS — School’s out, the temperature is rising, and the water is inviting, but as families head out to the water for Memorial Day weekend, there are some health warnings to be aware of.
Swimming is strongly discouraged in certain parts of Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi Gulf Coast right now. While there are no closures at this time, both the Pontchartrain Conservancy and the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality are reporting a higher-than-usual amount of a type of bacteria that comes from the intestinal tracts of animals and humans.
“If you were to swallow a lot of sea water and you swallow a lot of it, you could get sick. If you were to cut yourself on, say, some coral or a rock on the beach or underwater, they could get into the wound,” explained Dr. David Mushatt, Tulane chief of adult infectious diseases…