Copyright 1998 Palm Beach Newspaper, Inc.
The Palm Beach Post
March 28, 1998, Saturday, MARTIN-ST. LUCIE EDITION
SECTION: LOCAL, Pg. 1B
LENGTH: 386 words
HEADLINE: OFFICIALS RENEW SICK-FISH WARNINGS
BYLINE: Sally D. Swartz, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
DATELINE: STUART
BODY:
Martin County health officials don't know if a sore on a fisherman's
lip is linked to lesions found on fish in local rivers, but Friday
they renewed warnings against eating sick fish.
The fisherman's sore is not herpes, as officials suspected,
public health administrator Valerie Gryniuk said.
The man, who said he routinely held his cast-net in his teeth
while fishing the rivers, didn't keep an appointment for further
tests at the health department and will go to a private doctor.
''At this time there's no proven relationship between the sore
in the man's mouth and the fish lesions,'' Gryniuk said.
''We haven't identified the lesions as a public health threat
to humans.''
Scientists still know very little about Cryptoperidiniopsis,
the microscopic algae suspected as a cause of the fish lesions.
No tests exist to see if the microbe affects humans.
The fisherman was the first person to report health problems
possibly caused by contact with the water.
Gryniuk renewed the department's warning not to eat sick fish
and repeated that healthy fish are safe to eat.
The health department Tuesday will test water at the Stuart
and Jensen Beach causeways, where people swim, and in areas where
people water ski.
Scientists still are examining stomach contents of the sick
fish for evidence of the microbe, said Ann Forstchen, fish health
expert with the Florida Marine Science Research Institute in St.
Petersburg.
Bacteria in the kidneys of the diseased fish indicate the
illness affects the fish's entire system.
Meanwhile, the Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission
has asked wildlife hospitals to accept any sick pelicans and to
save the bodies of those that die to be tested and studied.
Mark Robson said his office has received several calls reporting
dead pelicans, but can't test those that have been dead for more
than a few hours.
The Department of Environmental Regulation and Martin County
now have designated several bait and tackle stores to accept sick
or dead mullet and other fish.
The shops include Roosevelt Bridge Bait & Tackle, Gordo's,
and Gaffer's in Stuart, Snook Nook in Jensen Beach, Hobe Sound
Bait & Tackle, Grand Slam Fishing Center and White's in Fort
Pierce.
Hurricane Bait & Tackle in Jensen Beach will accept fish
starting Monday.
NOTES:
Ran all editions.
LOAD-DATE: March 29, 1998