7 Atlantic City Beaches Under High Bacteria Advisories

Seven Atlantic City beaches tested positive for high fecal bacteria levels Tuesday and are under swimming advisories.

The oceanfront beaches are at Michigan, Kentucky, Connecticut, Arkansas, South Carolina, New York avenues, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

The Atlantic City beaches are among 16 New Jersey beaches that were placed under advisories Tuesday by the NJ Dep't of Environmental Protection. The other beaches under an advisory are in Monmouth and Ocean counties.

Any time a sample has more than 104 colony-forming units of enterococci, the beach is placed under a swimming advisory, and the water is tested again the next day.

The beaches would be closed to swimming if the follow-up test shows the same sample concentration or higher a second time.

The DEP said it retested the water at the beaches Tuesday and the results would be released Wednesday afternoon.

The DEP says swimming in or making contact with polluted water can cause gastrointestinal symptoms, respiratory symptoms, dermatological symptoms like skin rash and itching, and flu-like symptoms such as fever and chills.