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Cyanobacteria or blue-green algae occur worldwide and are found in freshwater ponds, rivers, reservoirs, and eutrophic lakes. Some cyanobacteria produce a class of toxins called cyanotoxins. These toxins have long been known to cause animal and human poisonings and have been responsible for toxic incidents in a variety of regions world-wide including North and South America, Africa, Australia, Europe, Scandinavia and China. The most frequent and serious health effects are caused by drinking water containing the toxins or by ingestion during recreational water contact. Disease due to cyanobacterial toxins varies according to the type of toxin and the type or water or type of exposure (drinking, skin contact). Cylindrospermopsin, nodularin and microcystins are three of the various categories of these toxins.
