be conveyed from fish to people. The dangers for aquarists are nowhere nearly as great as for those who who collect them. In South America, we kid about getting eaten by the fauna, though actually natives to the Amazon basin fear stingrays and the Candiru (little parasitic catfish) the most. In Africa it is the micro-fauna which can eat one from the inside out which is even more frightening to me. A few of these may come into the hobby. I know of one guy, who has been to East Africa a couple dozen times, who does take his medication for Schistosomiasis or Bilharzia. In the past that disease (the main hosts are snails, but free swimming larvae can get into a cut on a human fast) has been "limited to African and the Middle East. (Not only, "Don't drink the water, don't get cut in the water.") It has now been found in The Amazon basin, the Lesser Antilles (the smaller Island in the Caribbean chain), several countries in Southeast Asia, Indonesia and China - presumably the south.
See: http://www2.ncid.cdc.gov/travel/yb/utils/ybGet.asp?section=dis&obj=schisto.htm&cssNav=browse
oyb
If you wish to search Guppylog, try going to www.google.com and searching for "Guppylog whatever."
Aquarists do get fish TB, also called fish-keeper's finger or Mycobacteriosis. Although the bacteria is common in aquaria, it is seldom a problem for people. The fish are very unlikely to get a lethel infection of it if we don't crowd them or fall behind in partial water changes with seasoned water. If we as aquarists keep any hands with cuts out of the aquarium, we will be extremely unlikely to ever contact anything. Since my misadventure, if I get cut around the fish, I stop what I am doing, vigorously rinse the cut under a faucet, make sure it bleeds to clean it out and pout a little hydrogen peroxide on it.
This weekend I packed up seven entries for a killifish show in nearby Indiana. In the process of stumbling around, with too little sleep, I took a small puncture in a little finger. I cleaned up and continued to put the killies in the bowls which they would be shown in. Late Saturday night, I packed up my fish and helped catch and bag a number of pairs designated for Sunday's auction. Only as I was doing it that did it occur to me that I was still using that hand to catch and bag fish.
Sunday morning that little nick was a bit swollen and sore. That was really scrubbed and soaked in the shower. Today that is almost completely healed up.
Such TB bacteria are not the ones which cause the human TB. In most cases, if we clean up (remember I am in no way a physician), our immune systems and staying out of aquaria, once we realize we have a cut, will protect us. In the one to 999,000 chance I still get fish TB in that finger, I will mention that in GL.
Please see:
Mycobacterium, Mycobacteriosis or Fish TB
http://www.guppylog.com/comments/2005/7/22/202047/200/1
http://www.guppylog.com/comments/2006/1/29/162213/643/2
is a part of the hole in the stomach series. Towards the end I mention Adrian Tappin’s very useful site and how I got “fish-keeper’s finger” and then got rid of it.
There is also mention in a couple of places about how humans can catch Camallanus. (See Immediate Help.) Almost universally it has to do with people eating raw or undercooked fish.
However if those wee beasties are seen extending from a fish's vent (they are releasing larvae) we do ant to treat our fish carefully and soon. That is why I recommend getting the charcoal out of the filter and immediately treating a Camallanus infested aquarium with the anthelmintic Levamisole. I really don't want to be sucking on a siphon hose just then. Well, ok, I would, but verry carefully.
If you are uncomfortable with putting your hands in such water, get a package of cheap surgical gloves (such as we use for putting varnish and stains on window frames.)
I'm sure there are some of the over 100 parasitic worms which afflict fish which we wish to be careful of. Some, perhaps many, are species specific. Some fish diseases generally afflict cold-blooded creatures.
We may have a far greater chance of catching things from our cat or dog than our fish. For instance, Dipylidium caninum is a tapeworm, which can infect dogs, cats and people. It uses the flea larva as an intermediate host.
Fish can get tapeworms. Many tapeworms are species specific. In a month we are hosting the Chicago Killifish Association's annual regional show. One of our guest speakers is limnologist (and author) Terry Fairfield. I will e-mail him your question and see if he can address it then. I don't think I have a right to demand an answer right now.
If anyone lives nearby and would like to attend that show - the show and Terry's presentation is free - Y'all are welcome to attend. Details are at http://chika.aka.org/
I will try and look more at this later in the week. There are a zillion errands still to run, something about a tax return and FAFSA submission, a date with my first wife tonight, the continued acclimation and return of those show fish to their homes or improved homes and, oh yes, the need to find separate quarantine facilities for the two pairs of new killies which followed us home Sunday. ;)
Like you, I'll get to Googling for zoonose (sounds like a Ben Stiller movie) and zoonotic diseases, later this week.
Thank you for a string of great questions. You're putting us through our paces. :)
You got some great answers to your first question - though the afflicted fish could have been treated for Camallanus and left while you are gone. In fact, if that animal really had Camallanus, all of the other fish in that aquarium were exposed to the larvae and have it now anyway. You will need to treat that tank in the near future (a couple of weeks at most)!
All the best!
uncle scott
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Immediate Help
