In the "you can't make this up" department

[hollyfish2000]

I just saw this. Maybe I'm late to the news, but WTF?

What started as a small scrape from corner of the family's fish tank five years ago may end in the amputation of a champion teen gynmast's hand. Hannele Cox, 13, from Oak Hills, Calif., has battled a rare, flesh-eating infection she contracted from the tank when she was 8 and doctors have been unable to stop it from spreading. The bacteria has now spread to the bones of her right hand.
Over the years, the infection has forced Hannele to quit sports like volleyball and gymnastics, despite having won an American Athletic Union gymnastics championship. The infection has become so severe that the eighth grader has been unable to write or do school work because her dominant hand is constantly shaking with pain.
Mycobacterium marinum, sometimes referred to as fish tank granuloma, usually eats away at only the surface of the skin. But in Hannele's case it has infected several bones in her right hand, a development which could mean amputation of her right hand.
Doctors at the Loma Linda Medical Center and UCLA Medical Center have tried multiple types of antibiotics and two surgeries to remove infected tissue, but the bacteria seems to have become drug-resistant. javascript:void(0);

 

[YSS]

This is crazy. I am getting rid of all my fish tanks.

But seriously, obviously, this is very uncommon, but must be common enough to have a name like fish tank granuloma. I wonder if certain type of fish carry this bacteria ...

 

[UNCLERUCKUS]

YEA I READ THIS YESTERDAY. VERY SAD. THERE IS A PATIENT THAT COMES INTO OUR PRACTICE THAT GOT THE SAME THING FROM FISHING LAST YEAR. HE WAS CUT BY A FIN ON A PERCH AND THE HE LOST ALOT OF FLESH AROUND HIS FOREARM/ WRIST AREA. LOOKS LIKE SOMEONE POURED ACID ALL OVER HIS ARM AND THEN BURNED IT. I THOUGHT IT WAS JUST A RARE CASE BUT NOW I SEE ITS MORE COMMON THEN I PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT. SCARY!!

 

[YSS]

I can't even go fishing anymore? :-(

 

[AndyNarwhal]

Insert blatant product promotion here:


Buy Coralife Aquagloves!



Andy

 

[Hawkman2000]

I would think that people that come to sites like this one won't have these type of issues. Some of the tanks I have seen in other peoples houses are just repulsive. A JD I just recently rescued came out of a 55 that had a Midas and him in it. below the 55 were 2 20s, also holding medium cichlids. The only filtration he was running was undergravel in all of them. The tanks were covered in red brown algae. The man said that his wife was making him get rid of all of it because she was allergic to it. It was a sad scene. I would have to say that it is people like this that cause these issues.

 

[golsama]

Some of the tanks I have seen in other peoples houses are just repulsive.

I know what you mean. I've seen tanks at peoples' houses that I wouldn't dare put a finger in because of how bad it looked.

 

[UNCLERUCKUS]

YOU EVER GO TO SOMEONES HOUSE AND YOU LOOK IN THE TANK AND CANT SEE THE FISH CUZ OF THE DIRTY GREEN/BROWN WATER? THE FISH COMES TO THE GLASS W/ A ALGAE SCRAPER LIKE "GORILLAS IN THE MIST" . SO SAD

 

[golsama]

YOU EVER GO TO SOMEONES HOUSE AND YOU LOOK IN THE TANK AND CANT SEE THE FISH CUZ OF THE DIRTY GREEN/BROWN WATER? THE FISH COMES TO THE GLASS W/ A ALGAE SCRAPER LIKE "GORILLAS IN THE MIST" . SO SAD

Yep, I've seen that. I was at someone's house once with a tank like that. I didn't even realize there were fish in tank until they said they needed to feed their fish. I was in shock. I asked what kind of fish they kept and they said the kind you get from petsmart. :unsure:

 

[Hawkman2000]

At the risk of getting this thread removed. I am reminded of a previous thread (that was removed) that was about how Sacramento (I think) was working on legislation that would ban the sale of tropical fish. The people that we are talking about are the ones who make this happen. RAT *******S.

 

[Diogenes]

so does this mean I should take the 29 out of my soon to be born daughter's room???

 

[dogofwar]

No - babies like bubbling noise and humidity

And dads like something to watch while their trying to get their daughters' to go to sleep...

Matt

so does this mean I should take the 29 out of my soon to be born daughter's room???

 

[londonloco]

I've read this story on several sites and have wondered, will this bacteria grow in well maintained ("clean") tanks also? What conditions does it need to survive? Does it affect the fish? Anyone know?

 

[Diogenes]

I hope not

 

[Sonny Disposition]

This is fish tuberculosis. The organism is pretty common, but the infection (in people) is rare. It affects people who have weakened immune systems, but occasionally other people too. As a safeguard, if you have a cut on your hands, don't put your hands in a fish tank.

I also keep liquid bandage around. I usually have a tiny cut on my hand from something or other, and so for times when I need to reach in the tank, I put the liquid bandage on first.

The other precaution you should take is to always, always, wash your hands after you put them in the fish tank. In addition to tuberculosis, there are lots of other bugs you could theoretically transmit to yourself or others.

 

[maddog10]

There are ALWAYS things in your tanks that you do not want to know about. Like Bob mentioned, this things generally attck those with weakened immune systems or people that may be allergic to something in the tank.

My bosses' father ended up with a bacteria that is slowly eatting away at his muscles. He ended up in NIH before some figured out he caught it from handling Rockfish he caught in the Chesapeake Bay. He has been fighting it for about 4 years now.