Mycobacterium marinarum: Should I be worried about my aquarium making me sick?

[NUHTTY]

First of all, let me say that this post is not intended to act as medical advice for anyone. If you suspect any disease or ailment, consult your physician.


I am in the medical field and many of my friends joke with me about the diseases which must be coursing through my body from drinking siphoned aquarium water. Of course, this is all in good fun and I rarely drink aquarium water...by choice, that is.

The fact of the matter is there are indeed diseases which are not unique to the aquarium hobby, but are certainly more prevelant in those of us who have increased exposure to fish tanks. I have included this post as a single piece of information as I am asked quite often by friends if I am worried about getting sick from my tank or if they should be worried about getting sick from theirs. Again, I am not an expert in micriobiology or infectious diseases. The information contained herein is from my own personal research and reading on the topic.

Mycobacterium marinarum is a bacteria found in both fresh and salt water. Infection occurs when there is skin trauma (cut, scrape) in the water. This allows the bacterium to grow and cause a nodule in the skin. Because this bacteria grows better in cooler areas of the body, your hands, arms,feet and legs are more likely to be affected than other parts of your body.

Cases of this disease are very rare, about 3 people in 1 million will be affected annually. Most of these people are those at high risk of exposure to the bacteria: fisherman, swimmers, aquarium workers. Those exposed to salt water are more likely than those exposed to fresh water. People who swim in pools are highly unlikely to be exposed due to the chlorination of pool water. People who are immunocompromised (HIV/AIDS and people on chemotherapy) are more likely to be affected.

Affected people will develop a skin lesion: a bluish nodule that can sometimes ulcerate. There are very rare complications but are generally only seen in patients with a poor immune system.

Treatment is with oral antibiotics for a period of 2 to 18 months depending on severity of the infection.

There is no permanent damage from the nodules and the antibiotic treatment is very effective.


Again, this was just a brief snippet about this disease. Hopefully the reassuring statistic of 3 in 1 million will put some people at ease.

If any of you wants further information I suggest you read a medical text which has information on the subject. DO NOT rely on infromation you find on the internet (present post excluded ) as this information is very rarely checked by medical professionals so the authors can write whatever they want.

[Birdlady]

Yup. I am one of 'those' persons who wears gloves all day for my job, but never in my fish tank!


I have read about some risks, infections, stings, bites, etc. I don't know why I do it anyway. Kind of like gardening...I like the texture of things....

Do you wear gloves? also, this infection you speak of, one could still contract it if you had, say, medical gloves that only covered the hand, right? water would still get into the glove....?

[NUHTTY]

Good point, Birdlady.

No I do not wear gloves personally, but I DO wash BEFORE AND AFTER handling anything in my tank. Washing your hands afterwards involves more than running them under water and drying them with a towel.

Use an antimicrobial soap (Dial, for example) and wach for at least 15 seconds under very warm water.

Kitchen gloves are a great idea for working inside the tank. These gloves are very long and will protect your forearms from accidental scrapes against live rock and tank corners.

With proper hand washing and being careful when handling anything in your tank that can cut you, there is no reason anyone should worry.

[Birdlady]

Thanks!

[RAVEN]

I've heard of 1 case in my 20 years in energency medicine. If you ever get an infected wound from working in your tank and it does not respond to standard antibiotic therapy then let your doctor know that the wound was from working in your fish tank and he can put you on the appropriate antibiotics or refer you to an infectious disease specialist.
By the way Birdlady there is also a bacteria called Mycobacterium Avium that you can catch from birds. I saw 1 case 11 years ago.
All Mycobacterium are related to the Tuberculosis bacteria and take a long time to obtain a cure. They require months of antibiotics. But don't worry, the people that usually catch the non TB bacteria are usually immunocompromised- Cancer, HIV, Diabetes or on immunosupressive drugs like prednisone and the like.

[Birdlady]

Thanks Raven....my bird has had the full screening clean bill (no pun int) of health!


One can also catch Psittacosis , aka the avian flu if they are ill birds. Lots of zoonosis (sp?) with birds....