The Effingham County Emergency Management Agency has issued an advisory for the Ogeechee River.

The Effingham County Emergency Management Agency is advising all citizens to avoid the Ogeechee River, advising against swimming, fishing and consuming any fish that may have been caught.

During the Independence Day celebrations, the Effingham County Emergency Management Agency responded to and collected a 3-foot-long dead catfish from the Ogeechee River, approximately 10 miles south of the Steel Bridge Landing at Highway 119 and along the Sandhill Road area. The fish appeared to be the victim of columnaris by the trademark “blisters.” Columnaris was judged to be the cause of a May 2011 fish kill that wiped out more than 38,000 fish in the Ogeechee.

“It is apparent that the pollutants in the Ogeechee River are continuing to be an ongoing problem and may always be until the northern portions of the river are reclassified,” said EMA director Ed Myrick.