# Safety with Using Shrimp as Bait



## Thrifty Angler (May 5, 2002)

OK. So shrimp is my "go to and must have" bait. 
I was watching the show "Shrimping" on the History Channel last night. Saw where a guy had gotten a hole along the lower back side of one of his boots...where the heel meets the sole. Guys made it a point to mention that handling shrimp without the protection of gloves and boots could leave them open to getting an infection, staph, from sorting the fresh caught shrimp. Bacteria could enter into any open cut and be a problem for them.
Is this bacteria thing less likely to occur with general handling of shrimp by anglers versus by the Shrimpers? Does the bacteria issue mainly come from them being "just" dredged up from the Shrimpers? Does the "previously frozen" state of store bought shrimp lessen the possibility of getting some type of infection when handling shrimp as bait? 

Thanks


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## repair5343 (Jul 8, 2001)

Never had a problem handling them and I've been spiked many times.


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## WNYBob (Aug 16, 2011)

Yeah, get spiked and draw blood sometimes. any chance of infection would be the same as any open cut getting dirty or contaminated. I don't see it being any more or any less chance.


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## Fishman (Apr 23, 2000)

As a seafood wholesaler and a picker for the co. I've handled hundreds of pound of fresh shrimp. I've been poked plenty of times. Some times it just hurts when I'm pricked and sometimes it hurts for a day or two. Now it the point breaks off and is lodged in your hands or finger it may hurt for a while. I've never (so far) had an infection from being pricked from a shrimp. Keep using it. Shrimp make decent bait.


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## CarolinaChuck (Jan 11, 2011)

"The drama........the drama........the dramaaaaa.........................."

CC


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## HStew (Jan 8, 2009)

Maybe some people out on a shrimp boat don't wash there feet as often as those on shore!! I do see someone getting spiked by a crab horn and getting a bad infection.


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## speckhunter80 (Oct 3, 2011)

Mycobacterium marinum...have recently had a friend lose most of his hand from this. His father got it about two months later. I have seen some terrible injuries from this and no someone who lost an uncle to it.
East Carolina University Hospital Systems has a special program just for this.


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## slevinkelevra (May 13, 2011)

With 100-150 cases reported annually, I really wouldn't worry about it too much. 

http://www.medicinenet.com/mycobacterium_marinum/article.html


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## speckhunter80 (Oct 3, 2011)

Your link doesn't work and I can assure you that in eastern NC there are that many cases alone.


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## solid7 (Dec 31, 2010)

Seems to me that some people are worried about getting sick or infected from just about everything. There are 2 logical choices here:

1) If you are prone to be worried about such things, then yes, be afraid. Be VERY afraid. (Stop using shrimp immediately, and use fishbites)
2) If you don't tend to lean towards germophobia/hyphochondria/OCD, then just keep fishing the way you always have. You are a true survivor.


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## Scalez (Aug 21, 2008)

They are referring to Mycobacterium marinum. If you are unlucky enough to get a dose, it is very bad stuff. I have two friends who have had the surgery, one three times and the partial loss of right hand use.

What you need to know: is a slow-growing atypical 
bacteria that is commonly found in bodies of fresh or saltwater in many parts of 
the world. Most infections occur following skin exposure to the bacteria through a 
small cut or skin scarpe. In the United States, infections caused by 
M. marinum are rare, with an annual estimated annual incidence of 0.27 cases per 100,000 adults


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## Garboman (Jul 22, 2010)

Having contracted "Fish poisoning" while commercial fishing which entailed having a wet ass for 18 hours a day and getting small cuts and pricks infected
with bacterium, I would concur one should be careful and take time to disinfect after a cut or penetration.

I had to leave Hatteras and the Boat and go to the Hospital and get antibiotics because the infections had spread from my hands, up my arms and into my lower legs. More than one OBX commercial fisherman has lost his limbs and in some cases their lives to Sepsis. My arm swelled up to twice its size and pustules formed all over my hands and legs and the infection if not treated I have no doubt the outlook would have been Grim. 

Whether the puncture is from a Shrimp or derived from extracting a big Pin Fish from a net, or just a cut, handling bait and perpetually wet hands during Drum fishing the bacterium is present.


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## greg12345 (Jan 8, 2007)

If you are healthy with a normal immune system there is nothing to worry about. But if you have cirrhosis (bad liver) or poorly controlled diabetes I would be careful about getting poked/cut in seawater, particularly warm seawater. Especially if you have cirrhosis I would be very careful about cuts/pokes in warm seawater like the gulf of mexico...the main thing we worry about is not mycobacterium marinum but a bacteria called vibrio vulnificus...if u have cirrhosis and get a cut that gets this bug in it u can get real sick and die real quick, rare but it happens. With diabetes (esp if poorly controlled) u are at risk for wound infections and poor healing no matter what.


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## solid7 (Dec 31, 2010)

Scalez said:


> M. marinum are rare, with an annual estimated annual incidence of 0.27 cases per 100,000 adults


At that rate of occurrence, it would appear that one must be prone to (susceptible) this type of infection, where many may not be. Either that, or the numbers are grossly understated, by virtue of the fact that less than half of the population (and possibly more) regularly come into contact with marine environments. (or even freshwater, for that matter)

Again, I still state, that unless it becomes a problem, one shouldn't worry. Yes, if you find yourself with an infection after being injured by marine life of any type, you should monitor it closely. If nothing happens, you have no issue. Seems like a pretty straight forward exercise in common sense. Good information, but hardly working oneself into a dither over. I certainly wouldn't change my habits, unless I knew that I had a weak or compromise immune system, to begin with.

That being said, I have had the following happen to me:

Gored by catfish (in one side of my foot, out the other)
Bitten by shark
Bitten by eels
Bitten by wrasse
Bitten by snapper
Stabbed by shrimp
Cut open by crab pinchers (gaping wound)
Sliced by rock/shell/coral
pierced by dirty fish hook

I spend a great amount of time in, and under the water. And yet, after all of that, I have yet to catch the dreaded infection. But I'm relatively young, and rather healthy, so maybe it's just luck.


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## speckhunter80 (Oct 3, 2011)

Scalez said:


> They are referring to Mycobacterium marinum. If you are unlucky enough to get a dose, it is very bad stuff. I have two friends who have had the surgery, one three times and the partial loss of right hand use.
> 
> What you need to know: is a slow-growing atypical
> bacteria that is commonly found in bodies of fresh or saltwater in many parts of
> ...


Hey Scalez, we have the same two friends. You can't convince these folks. Don't ya know Midnight and Big Country are just statistical anomalies. I bet they would love to hear that.


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## solid7 (Dec 31, 2010)

speckhunter80 said:


> Hey Scalez, we have the same two friends. You can't convince these folks. Don't ya know Midnight and Big Country are just statistical anomalies. I bet they would love to hear that.


By that thinking, you should be dearthly concerned about contracting MRSA everytime you go to a doctor, dentist, or clinic. Are you? 

Sometimes, you just have to let be, whatever will be. It isn't always in your control, no matter how hard you try. Some people just have **** luck when it comes to getting sick.

I don't know of anyone who has ever had that problem, and I live in coastal Florida. All of my friends and neighbors practically live on the water, year round. I wouldn't have any problem suggesting that your friends are statistical anomalies. Or, you have some bad-ass bugs wherever you live.


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## Garboman (Jul 22, 2010)

Perhaps one day you fellas will contract fish poisoning derived by Karma..... or perhaps just a bad bait infection..... or perhaps you do not stay wet for long enough and in the presence of bacterium to contract it, it certainly is not a myth just ask any Hatteras Commercial Fisherman...opcorn:


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## AbuMike (Sep 3, 2007)

It is a real danger. I have a friend that got it from a Striper caught during the spring run in fresh water. Ugly stuff it is for sure. This was 15 years ago and he still has trouble with that finger.


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## RuddeDogg (Mar 20, 2004)

Yup. Fish poison is no joke. ya just have to be careful and pay attention.


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## JAM (Jul 22, 2002)

Was gonna say Fish Handlers Disease is not just from handling Shrimp, anything can have it... I have gotten it slightly a few times, and used the Clorox Cure. If ya catch it was it first starts, soaking in clorox will kill it.. Theres some bad Stuff out there fellas, MURSA (SP) is not cureable with antibiotics, you get it you are F'd. With the Amount of Fish I handle (Not being an Ass about what I catch) but the Bait I handle on a daily Basis, finger mullets have almost gotten me 4 times, Shrimp have almost gotten me 4 times, bunker got me once, in the ear I might ad, not fun... A trout Got me once.... And a Scratch from a Razor Back Skate, almost got me once.... Clorox Saved my @ss everytime except the ear, that was doctor city.....I wash my hands several times a day all day, be careful and be clean. A can of Baby Wipes in your beach Cruzer Goes along way... And its Simple... Serious Stuff.... No Chit..


Side note Too Much Clorox can Poison You too, fine line...
JAM


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## Ryan Y (Dec 1, 2005)

Wow, Midnight and Country both get a mention on this board...Whodathunkit?

I got slack but I use to keep a spray bottle of 10/1 bleach water solution for this type of thing. Takes the sting with out of those black sea bass, pinkie and grunt misshaps. Always feels good to get one of those fish's fins sliding into the side of a hand or heal.


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