Disclaimer: These postings were sent to us from a variety of media sources over the Internet. The content has not been reviewed for scientific accuracy or edited in any manner.

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