Lake Balaton infected with blue-green algae

Like most of Europe's inland waters, Balaton is increasingly facing the problem of the spread of cyanobacteria, less commonly known as blue-green algae, daily Népszabadság reports, citing a water science conference held recently in Budapest.

These toxic bacteria, originally native only to the tropics, have only begun to appear in Lake Balaton and many European lakes in recent decades, As yet, little is known about their impact on the microbiology of waters in temperate climates.

Hungarian scientists first observed blue-green algae in Balaton in 1987, but it was not until a decade later that it began to spread in larger quantities, especially during hot summers when water temperatures crept above 26 degrees Celsius.

According to ecologist László Czigler, the health risk posed by blue-green algae and the toxins they produce is negligible, with the most common cases involving skin rash and diarrhea.

Although Hungarian health authorities have been testing the water for blue-green algae every year since 1995, no data is available on exactly how badly Lake Balaton is effected.

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