Risk Management of Ostreopsis spp. Blooms Along Italian Coasts

ABSTRACT SCARDALA, S., DI GIROLAMO, I., FATTORUSSO, E., FUNARI, E., GRAMACCIONI, L., BERTOLOTTO, R., ICARDI, G., MATTEI, D., POLETTI, R and TESTAI, E., 2011. Risk Management of Ostreopsis spp. Blooms Along Italian Coasts. In: Micallef, A. (ed.), MCRR3-2010 Conference Proceedings, Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue, No. 61, pp. 435–439. Grosseto, Tuscany, Italy, ISSN 0749-0208 In the last years Ostreopsis spp. blooms have been reported in several Italian coastal stretches, showing a clear trend towards their extension. In 2005, during summer, an O.ovata bloom occurring in the coastal area in front of Genoa was tentatively associated with some human effects. Symptoms like rhinorrea, cough, fever, conjunctivitis, bronchoconstriction with mild dyspnea, and wheezes were observed in people exposed to marine aerosols, possibly containing algal fragments and/or its toxin. With less severe symptoms, similar episodes have been sporadically recorded in other coastal areas. Up to these events, the institution...