NORFOLK, Va. — Safety is a top concern for beachgoers at Ocean View in Norfolk.
"I don't really know this beach. I don't really know if there are any currents here, so I told [my girls] to stay close," said Laura Lopez, visiting from Chicago.
Safety isn't just staying aware of moving water. It can also mean making sure what's in the water is safe.
Still many beachgoers told News 3 they don't always go out of the way to check for a swim advisory.
"Not something I'd think about," said Jared Johnson, a student in Norfolk.
But one Norfolk resident, Alex Macdonald, said she wished she had known of a swim advisory before she took her five-year-old German Shorthaired Pointer 'Jack' to swim in Ocean View July 8.
"The only advisory I had seen was a little bit of air quality issues from the fire in Canada," Macdonald said. "I didn't know. My vet didn't know. And people were saying they put up signs. They don't put up signs. I didn't see anything on the beach."
She said Jack was healthy before the swim.
"After that, he just started tanking. He got extremely lethargic, his eyes were inflamed and just droopy. He was excessively drinking water," said Macdonald.
Jack, she said, is now fighting an aggressive infection that has left his body in 'utter turmoil' and left him blind in his left eye.
"It's just been a nightmare," said Macdonald.
Macdonald's taken him to see multiple veterinarians.
"They say there are two prognoses they think he has and they say both of them could have been related to swimming in the bay," said Macdonald.
The water in 45 public beaches in Virginia is tested weekly by local health departments for enterococci bacteria that, while not harmful themselves, indicate other harmful organisms.
"Obviously it's a part of nature. There's a wide variety of microorganisms. There's parasites or bacteria and another one that happens is Vibrio," said Marcia Snyder, an environmental health supervisor for the Office of Environmental Health.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services reported three North Carolina residents died from Vibrio bacteria earlier this month.
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3 NC residents killed by Vibrio bacteria that can be found in brackish water
Snyder added that teams perform testing in Norfolk on Mondays, but other cities perform tests on different days. If there's a complaint, Snyder said, the Virginia Department of Health investigates but doesn't necessarily order additional testing.
Instead, additional testing may fall to other agencies.
The tests take roughly 24 hours for a result. That's why Snyder said it's a good idea to use caution at times when risks are higher.
"Generally what we find are when we do get elevated samples it's after a heavy rain. There's just so much runoff coming off the streets, off the land," said Snyder.
Virginia Department of Health officials released this list of precautions you can take to avoid bacteria:
- Observe swimming advisories
- Avoid swallowing water when swimming
- Avoid swimming for a few days after a heavy rainfall
- Prevent direct contact of cuts and open wounds with recreational water
- Avoid swimming in areas where dead fish are present
- Avoid swimming if you have a weakened immune system
- Shower with soap after swimming
- Swim away from fishing piers, pipes, drains, and water flowing from storm drains onto a beach
- Don't dispose of trash, pet waste, or dirty diapers on the beach
Snyder said you can find swim advisory signs posted at beaches, notices on the Virginia Department of Health websites and social media accounts, and by calling the department. The Virginia Department of Health runs aBeach Map that depicts the current state of Virginia's public beaches.
"We can't by law make people stay out of the water, it's just giving them the best information we have," said Snyder.
In the meantime, Jack is being transferred to NC State for care.
"Today's kind of the make it or break it day," said Macdonald.
Macdonald hopes others in the community listen to her story.
"There has to be some good that's squeezed out of this. [I hope] this can save anyone else's dog, save anyone else's family member from getting sick. I hope we can work as a community to protect our bay and the city can do their part by appropriately communicating to the community if the water isn't safe," said Macdonald.
