Mycobacterium marinum Causes Rare Skin Infection

The handling of raw fish at three New York City Chinatown markets has led to an outbreak of a rare skin infection.

The city's health department has identified 30 people with the infection-- caused by a bacteria called Mycobacterium marinum-- all of whom handled live or raw seafood at the Chinatown markets in Queens, Manhattan, and Brooklyn.

M. marinum, as it's called, can travel from contaminated fish into a human body through a break in the skin, such as a cut. According to the health department, symptoms include "skin lesions, pain and swelling to the hands and arms and even difficulty moving fingers."

 Photo from the NYC Health Department 

Although not usually considered life-threatening, the infection can worsen over time. Those who leave it untreated for weeks or months may have to undergo surgery.

The health department says some of those who were infected "have been treated with traditional Chinese medicine or types of antibiotics." These type of treatments, the department says, do NOT cure the infection.

Those handling raw fish at New York seafood markets have been instructed to wear waterproof gloves.

The health department added that those who eat seafood from the Chinatown markets are not at risk of infection.

A report in October found that M. marinum infections from aquariums were being under-diagnosed.

References 

1. (2014, May 05). Huffpost Healthy Living: New Yorkers Warned of Rare Skin Infection Outbreak Caused By Raw Fish In Chinatown. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/05/chinatown-skin-infection-new-york-raw-fish_n_4905046.html.  

Ice Age Virus

 

The chances of "frozen viruses" reactivating is possible thanks to climate change, according to experts. 

Frank Cezus—Getty Images

French scientists are celebrating after successfully revitalizing an ancient virus that had been lying dormant for 30,000 years in Siberian permafrost, according to the BBC.

Measuring 1.5 micrometers in length, the Pithovirus sibericum strain is the largest virus to ever be discovered. The virus, Pithovirus sibericum, was found in a 30-meter-deep sample of permanently frozen soil taken from coastal tundra in Chukotka, near the East Siberia Sea, where the average annual temperature is -13.4 degrees Celsius.

Radiocarbon dating of the soil sample found that vegetation grew there more than 30,000 years ago, a time when mammoths and Neanderthals walked the Earth. 

“This is the first time we’ve seen a virus that’s still infectious after this length of time,” said Professor Jean-Michel Claverie, from the National Centre of Scientific Research (CNRS) at the University of Aix-Marseille in France.

Researchers say the contagion does not pose a danger to humans or animals; rather, it specializes in attacking single-cell amoebas.

“It comes into the cell, multiplies and finally kills the cell. It is able to kill the amoeba — but it won’t infect a human cell,” said CNRS’s Dr. Chantal Abergel.

However, experts admit other potentially harmful viruses could reactivate and spread if more frozen ground becomes exposed from increasing global temperatures.

 

Microscopic view of Pithovirus sibericum.

Image via Matthieu Legendre

References

1. Stout, D. 2014, March 4. Virus Resurrected After Chilling in Siberia for 30,000 years. Retrieved from http://time.com/#12047/virus-resurrected-after-chilling-in-siberia-for-30000-years/.

2. Penfold, V. 2014, March 18. Scientists Wake Virus After 30,000 Year Slumber. Retrieved from http://www.cankler.com.au/tag/pithovirus-sibericum/.  

About Me

Welcome to my blog!!
 
Hello, my name is Cherelle Mack. I am a second year graduate student in the CLS program at UAB. My goal for this blog is to inform my readers about infectious disease topics that are global, local, and even those that are more relevant in the clinical laboratory environment. I hope you are all as pumped up about our Infectious Diseases course as I am!!!

Professional Background: I attained the majority of my professional experiences as an undergrad at Albany State University. I was privileged to participate in many research-based internships and present my research at several national conferences.

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