Many waders and swimmers in several northern Michigan lakes are bothered by swimmer’s itch, an itchy rash that is caused by a tiny parasite in the water that mistook a person for the duck it was seeking to infect. This tiny parasite burrows into the skin but cannot infect humans, so it dies there, producing an inflammatory response. This rash is generally just a nuisance but can be severe enough to interfere with enjoyment of the water. For those interested in a bit more information, we recommend visiting this Wikipedia page: Wikipedia Swimmer’s Itch.

The Three Lakes Association is seeking to learn whether or not there is a sufficient problem with swimmer’s itch in our lakes to warrant spending money and volunteer time to study and attempt to remedy the problem. It will help us immensely in determining how much effort we should devote to swimmer’s itch to hear from our membership about your experience with swimmer’s itch – where, when, how serious – as well as if this has not been a problem where you live. Please take a few minutes to let us know your experience. Thanks.

Please take this short (6 question) survey to tell us about your experience with Swimmer’s Itch (click on this link): TLA Swimmer’s Itch Survey

Please take the survey whether or not you have experienced Swimmer’s Itch in one of our lakes!

If you would like to be contacted about any specific swimmer’s itch issues, please notify us by calling 231-599-2894 or sending an email to norrisrebe@torchlake.com. Thank you very much for your participation in this survey.