A rumor concerning a "flesh eating disease" carried by stripers has been circulating. I contacted the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries for validation, here is the reply;
The article in the Boston Globe was a typical sensationalistic piece written by today's "need a story, not the truth" reporters. Most of my comments were twisted to give the issue more importance than it deserves.
Starting in 1997, striped bass in Chesapeake Bay began showing signs of a bacterial disease that creates open sores and lesions on their bodies. The bacterium is known as Mycobacterium and is not a flesh-eating bacterium. . If a person handles a fish that has been infected with this bacterium, there is a chance that an infection (that is very treatable with antibiotics) could develop (particularly if the handler has open wounds) . The recommendation is to wear gloves if you handle striped bass in Chesapeake Bay. As you know, many striped bass from Chesapeake Bay migrate to Massachusetts. However, we have not had any reports of external (lesions) or have not observed any internal (white granulomas on spleen and liver) signs of the disease on fish we examined. This may be because 1) the migratory stock only stays in Chesapeake Bay a short while and probably has little chance of being infected (most of the fish that have the disease in Chesapeake Bay are the year-round residents) , 2) the disease is eliminated once the fish move into colder, cleaner, ocean water, 3) or the bacterium is present but doesn't develop while the fish in the ocean. We don't know which case is true. I tried to tell the reporter that we aren't too concerned about it and tried to put it in perspective by saying I recommend people that handle any wildlife including fish should wear gloves because they have many bacteria that could cause similar infections if the conditions are right.
I have attached a flyer from Maryland Department of Natural Resources that explains more about the disease. I will get a Press release on our website soon.
Gary Nelson, MA division of Marine Fisheries
Web Site: Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries
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