The Puffer Forum

Can you get Mycobacterium marinum (Fish TB) in freshwater? All the articles I've read seem to mention marine tanks only. Anyhoo, the reason I ask is that I have this very small scratch on my finger that I forgot about while cleaning the tanks last week, and so it got exposed to the water. Yesterday it started swelling up and today it looks like it has a dried pea stuffed under it. I'm getting rather worried. I've put antibiotic ointment on it and we'll see what happens after a couple of days. It may just be a run-of-the-mill infection.

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I don't know if that particular bacterium survives in freshwater, but if your hand is swelling up that much that fast, I would definitely visit the doctor. Especially if your veins are beginning to show up around the area. Such infections can become very serious very quickly.

I believe you can, but I'd be more inclined to not panic and assume its probably a run of the mill infected cut, however if it does not get better in a day or two I'd definately be getting a doctor appointment and letting them know the situation.

But I'm one of those "farm girls" that if I get an infected cut I just lance it, clean it out, rinse it out with alcohol and keep going...

I recently read an article in Practical Fishkeeping about this where a woman became infected with Fish TB and while it is rare, it wouldnt hurt to get yourself checked out by a doctor. Best to be on the safe side.

Yes, fish TB can and does occur in FW.

See your physician. The odds are against TB, but it is a difficult infection to treat if it happens to be the case, so better to get it on record and checked out ASAP.

Thank you everyone for the advice. I think the swelling may have gone down a tiny bit today, so I'll still give it a couple more days with the antibiotic ointment. If it's still swollen on Thursday or Friday, or if it keeps getting bigger, I'll definitely go in to see a doctor. Normally I don't worry too much about infected cuts (they're just a nuisance), but I've never had one swell up this much. I'll let you guys know how it goes.[/i]

Mycobacterium marinum causes a chronic progressive fish disease found in freshwater, saltwater, and brackish environments.

See: http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003- ... /index.php

Yep! That's the article that got me worried in the first place.

I tried lancing it yesterday and again today. Absolutely nothing came out, no matter how many times I poked it with a pin. Other than that, there has been no change in size and I am continuing with the ointment.

I would go see the doctor just in case. A petland worker here got it while cleaning the bioballs/overflow and it was pretty expensive for medications needed to treat it. She got scars from it as well.

Js

The swelling has gone down to almost nothing, thank goodness! I'm going to go buy myself a pair of elbow-length rubber gloves so I don't have to go worrying about every swollen cut. Thank you everyone for your help and concern--thankfully it looks like a false alarm.