I have had the unfortunate experience of a suffering from a mycobacterium marinum infection in my hand/arm and it is NOT fun!!! Took almost 3 months to diagnose it and another 6 months of heavy antibiotic treatment to get rid of it. We have come to the conclusion that it entered my hand through a small puncture wound from an old splinter on my finger. I have been keeping marine/freshwater aquariums for over 25 years and always just stuck my hand in my tanks. Always had relatively healthy fish/tanks without any signs of diseases, so it is true that m. marinum can be present in all tanks. It can be present in any body of water, even swimming pools as someone mentioned!
Initial symptoms were a few small nodules on the back of my hand, similar to mosquito bites. Also very painful joints in fingers. They started spreading up my arm (along the lymph track). Initially saw a dermatologist for them. It took several biopsies and tissue samples to determine the actual cause of infection. I was immediately referred to an infectious disease specialist who was smart enough to start me right away on antibiotics even while we were still waiting for test results. This was important because the testing/culturing for the bacteria took almost 2 months!! This quick treatment helped to prevent the infection from spreading. The recommended treatment for m. marinum is long-term oral antibiotic treatment for up to a year!!! It is related to TB and can spread to your lungs. I was lucky to avoid surgery to remove the nodules, the antibiotics shrunk the remaining nodules and after almost a year after being diagnosed, I was declared \"bacteria-free\"!!! I only have a few small scars where the biopsies were taken. The treatment wasn't without complications, including experiencing a severe drug reaction to one type of antibiotic that we tried, constant blood tests and doctor visits, along with the hassle of taking high doses of probiotics and eating enough yogurt to last me a lifetime!! doh.gif
Moral of the story....wear gloves when working with your aquariums, especially if you have an open cut/wound. If you think it can't happen to you, it definitely can!!
