# Fish TB



## markuk (3 Sep 2008)

Now dont think i watch this regularly but Kim and Aggy from [how dirty is your home]reckon
that certain species of fish in the aquarium,no names were actually given,can pass on TB and that you should
 allways wear rubber gloves every time you clean out your aquarium :? is there any truth in this,does
or have anyone heard of such..personally the amount of times i've had my hands in and out
of tanks over the years if this was true i think i'd be possibly riddled with TB by now....

what dya think....


mark....


----------



## Ed Seeley (3 Sep 2008)

Fish TB can be passed onto humans.  Its symptoms are lesions on your hands and up your arms.  However if your fish aren't infected and symptomatic then there is little chance of infection.  Common fish infected seem to be mass bred livebearers and more recently Dwarf gouramis.  I think it's also a risk mainly if you have cuts in your skin to allow the bacteria in.


----------



## Joecoral (3 Sep 2008)

working in an LFS i've had my hands in an out of tanks cleaning several hours a day, 1-4 days a week for the last 18 months and i've never caught anything.
Have heard the horror stories of people catching it tho...


----------



## Thomas McMillan (4 Sep 2008)

Gosh, I never knew this... Scary! You won't find my hand in that tank anymore.


----------



## aaronnorth (4 Sep 2008)

i dont know why they cleaned it out with salt? It was only a lot of algae   

yes i did watch it


----------



## bugs (4 Sep 2008)

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow ... flash.html

Nice voice, shame about the message...


----------



## Ed Seeley (4 Sep 2008)

Forgot to say I've been keeping fish for 18 years and never caught it and swallowed more than my share of tank water over that time I'm sure, as well as never using gloves and having loads of cuts and scrapes when I used to landscape for a living.  Just be aware of it, don't panic about it.

Far more risky is something like Weils disease you can catch from rivers and lakes from rat urine; that's deadly.


----------



## SunnyP (4 Sep 2008)

Theres a BCG vaccine, as the bacteria are becoming more resistant to antibiotics. The W.H.O put that in place to prevent TB.


----------



## fishgeek (5 Sep 2008)

mycobacterium are soil related organisms so most commonly found in the muck/mulm or substrate of a tank rather than the water

there are many mycobacterium species most that choose a specific host and focus on improving there ability to invade that hosts cell type, of course there are species of mycobacteria that cross those host species boundaries... ie badger human and cow  are all affected by the same tb and more commonly than any fish variant of tb being found .... so dont go into the country!  

aqaurium tb has been reported as being as widespread as 30% of tropical fish , there are varying sources to choose the most dramatic stats always in science 

fish tb only ocassionally transmits to people and most commonly when there are open wounds cuts or scratchs on the hands or arms
it cause's nodular granuloma's in the skin , the bacteria are very hard to treat with ab's because of the protective reaction they cause around them , this has always been the case
i am not aware of any vaccination against the fish variant of tb

andrew


----------



## a1Matt (5 Sep 2008)

My insight (two cents worth)...

Whilst TB is still around in the UK (my dad nearly died from it in his youth, and I know of some consultants who specialise in this area still today.) I don't worry about it in my tank.

For most of us we regularly contract, pass on, get rid of organisms without any conscious awareness.  There are plenty of 'nasties' lurking about in our tank.  If I started worrying about it I would ditch the tank and live in a sterile bubble and never leave the house!

If you have a condition such as Cystic Fibrosis for example though, you are more prone to infection than most and it is harder to clear those infections.  CF patients are recommended to not keep any pets at all including fish. Not just for TB, but for many other organisms (Pseudomonas species in particluar).


----------



## altaaffe (6 Sep 2008)

Can't agree more Matt, I think the more we cocoon ourselves from germs the more likely we are to contract something.  That said, it doesn't mean I'm going to go to nasty areas just to see what I can resist but there seems to be too many people telling us this is bad and that is bad.


----------

