Should you be worried about fish TB?

I have heard of this as well. (Just to be clear, TB stands for tuberculosis right?)

I learned that people actually can get TB when they siphon with old style siphons. It’s so weird.:unsure:
 
It's not the same TB that humans usually suffer from. That affects the lungs. Fish TB affects the skin, and can get into the lymph system and the joints.

As the article says, if you get a skin problem mention to the doctor that you have fish tanks or it could be mis-diagnosed.
 
Yes TB is short for Tuberculosis. This is a common name for the group of bacteria in the Mycobacteria genus. There are Mycobacteria that cause consumption (TB of the lung in people). There is another species of Mycobacteria that causes leprosy in people. There are numerous species of Mycobacteria that affect fish, birds, animals and reptiles.

You can't catch fish TB from using old equipment unless that equipment has Mycobacterium cells on it, and you have an open wound on your skin.

Basically the Mycobacterium can only affect you if you have open sores on your skin, and you get TB contaminated water on the sores. Then the bacteria can enter the wound and set up shop in the skin.

Most healthy people will never get this from a fish tank but people with an impaired immune system are at risk. If you have heart or lung problems, diabetes, cancer, HIV or some other immune suppressing health issue, you are at risk if you have open wounds on your hands or arms and put them into an aquarium that has Mycobacteria in the water. If you don't have any cuts or scratches on your skin, you won't get a Mycobacterium infection from a fish tank.

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I wrote this a while back in response to a question on this forum. I'm not sure where the thread is now.

Silencedogood said: ?
Is TB common? I had thought that a couple of my platys had it but I read that it's very unlikely. Also, is it transmittable to humans?

My response
Any fish can be infected with Mycobacterium (Tuberculosis or TB). Australian and New Guinea Rainbowfish are regularly infected and livebearers and dwarf gouramis from Asia are too.

In 2006 I had TB in my tanks and did some research on the subject. Every pet shop and fish importer that I contacted, admitted they had, or suspected they had fish TB in their tanks on at least one occasion. I contacted most of the shops and importers in Australia. Most of the fish coming into Australia come from Asian fish farms and these farms also supply freshwater tropical fishes to most of the world. So if it's in Australia, it's highly likely it is in every country around the world.

Fish TB is also found in a lot of waterways and in Western Australia, the state government had trout farms where they bred and grew trout to be released into natural waterways for recreational fishermen. The main trout farm was in Pemberton in the south-west of WA and it had TB in its system. Basically the state government was releasing an introduced species of fish (trout) that were contaminated with TB into rivers so fishermen could catch them. Subsequently most of the fresh water creeks and rivers in the southern half of the state now have fish TB in them. The trout also eat the native fishes.

Australian native fishes never evolved with fish TB and were never exposed to it until 30 or 40 years ago and they have no resistance to it. This is why it's so commonly seen in rainbowfish. Other fishes from Asia have been exposed to it for thousands of years and appear to have some resistance to it.

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Fish can be infected with TB for months or even years before they show any signs. The most common symptoms include: the fish swelling up overnight, breathes heavily (usually at the surface or near a filter outlet), stops eating, does a stringy white poop, dies within 24 hours of showing these symptoms.

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Fish Mycobacteria (TB) is a very slow growing bacteria. Most common bacteria can double every few hours. Mycobacteria takes days or weeks to double.

In cold water, TB grows slower and goldfish can carry the bacteria for years before it affects them. In warm water, the bacteria grows quicker, but it's still a slow growing disease.

If fish are big, it takes longer for the bacteria to build up in numbers and kill the fish. A small fish has smaller organs and less bacteria are needed to damage it.

The bacteria kill the fish by destroying internal organs and causing organ failure. Basically a fish becomes infected by eating TB contaminated food or ingesting the bacteria with contaminated water. The bacteria settle into an organ somewhere in the fish's body and start growing. They grow slowly and build up over time. Eventually the bacteria damage the organ they are growing in and the fish swells up and dies.

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You can't treat fish TB because Mycobacterium cells are covered in a waxy coating, which prevents chemicals harming the bacterium and also protects it from the elements. The bacterium can remain dormant in shady areas or mud for many years. A fish health scientist I contacted about this in 2006, told me he found live but dormant fish TB in a dry river bed down south. The river had not had any water for 7 years, yet they still found live bacteria there. Hot and dry conditions kill the bacteria quicker. It dies in a couple of seconds at 60 degrees Celcius.

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People can catch fish TB, however people with a healthy immune system are less likely to develop a fish TB infection. People catch fish TB when open wounds in their skin are infected with TB contaminated water. If you wash your hands and arms with warm soapy water after working in a tank, you are less likely to contract the disease. If you have cuts, scratches, sores or any open wounds on your skin, avoid getting fish tank water on them. Wear a pr of rubber gloves or just stay out of the tank until the wounds have healed.

People with a weakened immune system (heart disease, lung problems, diabetes, cancer, HIV, old people, babies, etc), are more likely to develop localised TB infections.

If you develop any sores on your hands or arms that don't heal up normally or quickly (within 2 weeks), see your doctor and inform them that you keep aquarium fish. The doctor will probably try to put you on anti-biotics, however this is not a good idea. Ask the doctor to take a swab of the sore and send it off for testing to see what is growing in the wound. The lab should culture the swab and test various treatments on it to find out which medication will work best. The results will be sent to the doctor, along with a list of medications that treat the disease. The doctor will then find a medication that is safe and suitable for you.

Do not take anti-biotics for a small sore that hasn't healed until it has been swabbed and identified in a lab. Then take the anti-biotic that works best on that specific bacteria.

People have gone to the doctor with small sores and been put on anti-biotics before a swab was taken. The anti-biotics don't work and the bacterium simply becomes resistant to that sort of anti-biotic. Because the anti-biotics don't work, the doctor prescribes another type of anti-biotic and this continues for months with no improvement. Eventually the doctor will take a swab and send it off for culture, but that can be 6 months later and by then you have big sores on your skin that are gross and can potentially contaminate other people with open wounds.

So just make sure you tell the doctor you keep fish and want any sores swabbed and sent off for culturing before you take anti-biotics.

Before you go to the doctors, or while you're waiting for the results, you can try using raw honey. You wash the wound with warm soapy water, dry it with a tissue, then rub raw honey into the wound. Put a bandage over the wound to stop the honey going everywhere. Remove the bandage and wash the wound and re-apply honey 2 times a day. Raw honey has chemicals in it that kill viruses, fungus, and bacteria and might help with fish TB. You normally see results after 3-4 days of applying honey and you continue using it until the wounds have healed over.
 
I never thought about not sticking my hand in my tanks if I have an open wound on my hands/arms. Should I wear a glove or something?

I guess it’s similar to the fact that you shouldn’t stick your hands/arms in river water/pond water, due to the risk of infection.
 
Wearing a rubber glove isn't an option for me - they are far too short. If I use one and put my hand in the tank, within seconds it is full of water. For the last couple of weeks I have tried using a freezer bag selotaped tight around my wrist to stop the dressing on my finger getting wet. That works as long as I put my other hand in the tank and just use the bagged hand to hold wet stuff, but during today's water change on my betta's tank I forgot and put in in the tank. It leaked. I had to stop, remove the wet dressing, wash with anti-bac soap then re-dress my finger before finishing the water change.
I did once buy a a pair of shoulder length pond gloves but they were so thick I couldn't feel anything through them and made a mess of the water change.
 
How do you stop the water getting in at the wrist end of the glove? I usually end up in tank water up to my elbows and sometimes up to my shoulder. I have to either wear a sleeveless top or clip the sleeve of a T shirt up so it doesn't get dunked in the tank.
 
How do you stop the water getting in at the wrist end of the glove? I usually end up in tank water up to my elbows and sometimes up to my shoulder. I have to either wear a sleeveless top or clip the sleeve of a T shirt up so it doesn't get dunked in the tank.
The surgical gloves are tight unless you buy a set that is larger than your hand but if you do that then use a rubber band to stop water. I was a 1st responder so I carried them with me all the time. The type I used was the powder free ones. They came in small, medium, large, and extra large.
 
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Surgical gloves are horrible to put on or take off. I used to shave the back of my hands and wrists when using them because they pull the hair out when you try to take them off. I'm part werewolf so you primates might not have as much of an issue as I did.
 
I had this in my tank about 2 years ago. I used a full length glove that is usually used for birthing calves (shows you what an assortment of animals I interact with haha)
To clean my tank for a few months after it was dealt with
 
Surgical gloves are horrible to put on or take off. I used to shave the back of my hands and wrists when using them because they pull the hair out when you try to take them off. I'm part werewolf so you primates might not have as much of an issue as I did.
I never had a problem except with the powder ones that would get powder all over my cloths
 

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