Fish Handlers Disease

[Rappin Mikey]

I caught a keeper before work on Friday (I work in a school). Anyway, I brought the fish in and cut it up for a science class. I gave out some fillets to my co-workers. One of the teachers I gave the fish to was out on Monday. Today she told me that she had to go to the hospital because she broke out in a rash and started to run a high fever with very swollen glands in her neck. She told me that the doctor informed her she had gotten fish handlers disease from some bacteria that comes from the hands of the one who handles the fish. No one else I gave the fish to got sick. She is kind of a prankster, and I think she is pulling my leg. Does anybody know if the symptoms she listed are consistant with those of fish handlers disease?

[Jenn]

well I dont know about the disease but if she is allergic...well then I could see that! Friend of ours just looks a fish and his throat closes up and he gets rashy....

[FishermanTim]

Did your friend eat the fish raw?
I would presume that cooking fish properly will pretty much kill any nasties in the meat, plus I would think that the fish would be cleaned (washed) before preparations began, just to make sure there wasn't anything left to chance.
Sounds like a prankster to me.

[NilsC]

Fish Handler’s Disease
When cleaning marine fish or shellfish, the handler frequently creates small nicks and scrapes in his skin, usually on his hands. If these become infected with the bacteria Erysipelothrix rhusopathiae, a skin rash may develop within two to seven days. The rash appears as a red to violet-colored area of raised skin surrounding the small cut or scrape, with warmth, slight tenderness, and a well-defined border. The sufferer should be treated with penicillin, cephalexin, or ciprofloxacin for one week.

http://www.wfubmc.edu/besthealth/ODH/fish_handler.htm