Copyright 1998 Stuart News Company
The Stuart News/Port St. Lucie News (Stuart,FL)
March 21, 1998, Saturday
SECTION: Local; Pg. B1
LENGTH: 695 words
HEADLINE: MAN FEARS HIS SORES, MULLET LINKED
BYLINE: Debi Pelletier of the News staff
BODY:
John Lund is worried because the lesion on his lip looks a lot like the
ones
he saw on the fish. And when he woke up Friday, he found a sore on his
tongue.
STUART - A midnight fishing trip for mullet is turning into
a nightmare for a Jensen Beach man who says he's developed a
nasty-looking lesion on his lower lip that he thinks is related
to the outbreak plaguing fish.
"It's about the size of a dime," John Lund said late Friday before leaving his home to visit the Martin County Health Department.
"My pillow every morning, it's got a big (spot), like
the size of a baseball, full of blood. And that's not a cold
sore."
Lund, 32, said he's concerned because he's had the lesion for
about three weeks, ever since he used a cast net, which is often
held in the teeth, to catch a bucket of diseased-looking mullet
off Indian River Drive in Jensen Beach.
"I was handling the mullet and I didn't know because it
was in the middle of the night," Lund said. "I smelled
this horrible odor and I didn't know what the heck it was, so
I took my flashlight and looked down at my boat and the bucket
of mullet.
"God, I couldn't believe what I saw," he said.
The mullet had their "eyeballs falling out and big chunks
taken out of their heads," he said.
Two mornings later, Lund said, he found the lesion on his lip.
When he went to the Grand Prix races in Homestead, it got so bad
he went to see a doctor, who took some cultures. But Lund said
the doctor told him the tests were inconclusive.
Since then, Lund said, he's been hearing more about the lesion-riddled
mullet found in the Indian and St. Lucie rivers and the scientists
trying to find out whether a toxic microorganism is responsible.
He's worried because the lesion on his lip looks a lot like
the ones he saw on the fish. And when he woke up Friday, he found
a sore on his tongue.
"You see, you've got to use your mouth and your hands
to throw a cast net. And not only that, you've got to pick the
mullet up out of the bottom of the boat and throw them in the
bucket. And I'm a smoker. So then you've got your fingers around
a cigarette and you stick them up around your lips.
"This is nasty. I'm scared to go out in public,"
Lund said. "You can see it a mile away."
Lund said he called the scientists at the Marine Research Institute
in St. Petersburg, who told him to see a dermatologist. But he
has no insurance, so decided to call Bob Washam, the environmental
health director at the Martin County Health Department.
"He'd already heard about me," Lund said. "We
just had a new drainfield dug out in front, and this inspector
came, and the inspector went and told Bob, "Hey, this guy's
got a huge lesion on his lip."'
Late Friday, Washam said Lund was examined and test results
should be ready by the end of next week.
"We feel we know what it is," Washam said from his
home late Friday. "And we really don't think it is related
to the river and fish problem.
"Just from the examination, it's not anything unusual,"
he said. Lund said Health Department officials told him the sore
appears to be related to herpes.
Herpes is a viral disease of the skin that causes blisters
on skin or mucous membranes. One common form of the herpes virus,
which is often picked up in early life, is typically dormant in
humans but can flare up during times of illness or stress to cause
cold sores or lesions on the lips or nose.
Washam said Lund is the first person to come forward complaining
of potential ill effects from the recent outbreak of fish lesions,
although people are continuing to call in to voice concerns.
Scientists are trying to determine whether a toxic organism,
Cryptoperidiniopsis, is responsible for the lesions in fish reported
as far north as Melbourne. They have said no human health effects
are associated with the organism. But it is a close cousin to
Pfiesteria piscicida, which is known to be toxic to humans
as well as marine life.
Health officials have warned that it's not wise to handle or
eat the fish, or swim in waters near them. They're asking anyone
who thinks they might have suffered any ill effects to contact
county health departments.
LOAD-DATE: March 22, 1998