Felt soled wading shoes spread water-borne diseases

Here is one more way that P. ramorum can spread into remote areas:

"Actually, it's not Baby who needs the new shoes -- it's Dad. But the old crapshooting reference is appropriate because every time we anglers travel from one trout stream to another we're rolling the dice with nature. Our wading shoes, especially the felt-soled variety, pick up tiny organisms that remain alive in the porous material and squirt free to take up residence in the next stream we fish. In this manner are some of the most pernicious, trout-threatening invasive species such as the parasite that causes whirling disease and the stream-choking algae known, not fondly, as rock snot spread from one stream to another. Extensive research has shown conclusively that felt soles have been responsible for much of the spread of whirling disease, didymo and other pest species. Now, Trout Unlimited is campaigning to make felt-soled wading shoes and boots obsolete. TU is asking the manufacturers of fishing gear to stop production of felt-soled boots and boot-foot waders by the year 2011."

See website below for complete story.

maineoutdoorjournal.mainetoday.com/blogentry.html?id=10545