Environmentalists claim the Ogeechee River fish kill this week is due to a bacterial disease caused by environmental stress, but don’t yet know what is causing that stress, said Kevin Chambers, spokesman for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Environmental Protection Divison. The bacterial disease is columnaris, and humans are not known to be affected by this disease, he said. However, since the cause of the environmental distress is yet unknown, people are still advised to stay out of the river and not consume fish from the river, he said.