COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE - In the growing Columbia River windsurfing community, it's known as 'river nose,' a mysterious illness that people have been reporting for a while now.

The symptoms that people complain of are a clogged up nose, extreme congestion, fever and fatigue, among other problems.

Volunteers for Columbia Riverkeeper are now wading into the water and taking samples to try to solve this mystery.

"It's all speculation at this point - whether it's blue-green algae, something natural or something human caused," said Rachael Pecore, Water Quality Director for Columbia Riverkeeper.

They use strict procedures and immediately drive their test samples to a portable laboratory in Washington where two federal microbiologists analyze them.

The results will be compared to medical tests on water users in the hopes of finding a cause and a solution.

"It really is a needle in the haystack," said Pecore. "However, with a whole lot of volunteer help, with enough time and with enough equipment, we can begin to find those needles."

Scientists hope to find the cause of the mysterious illness, and a solution to the problem, by October. So far, out of all the people they have surveyed who had contact with the Columbia River, about half reported health problems.