For years wind and kite surfers have been complaining of a mystery illness called "river nose.” They get sore throats, ear and eye infections, or cuts that don’t heal.

The problem got so severe, the citizen’s group Columbia Riverkeeper says it started getting flooded with phone calls from river-users wondering why they’d been so sick.

In response to growing concerns, Columbia Riverkeeper started conducting its own tests on the river. And today volunteers were back out, but this time they got some help.

Microbiologists with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency brought their mobile laboratory down from Seattle and parked it near Lyle Point.

File photo

The Columbia River.

As volunteers gathered water samples from 26 different sights along the Columbia River, the microbiologists tested the samples for bacteria, pathogens, or any clues as to what could be causing “river nose.”

“This is the largest sort of sampling effort that has been done in the Bonneville reservoir up,” said Rachael Pecore, a spokesperson for Columbia Riverkeeper.

The scientists will be conducting the tests over the next three days. They’ll be looking for bacteria, pathogens, or any clues as to what could be causing "river nose," and to hopefully solve the mystery once and for all.

“Whether it’s natural a result of just being in the water all day long or not ... that’s what we’re trying to get to the bottom of,” said Pecore.