Fish processing and human infection

Majere and Cortina present the details of an interesting wound infection, likely acquired from tilapia fish.1 Infections from fish processing are varied and have been previously reviewed.2^,3 Evidently, many bacteria are capable of contaminating the natural environment; they reside in aquaculture systems or are natural microbial flora of fish, and thereafter affect humans.

One of the more interesting outbreaks of tilapia-associated human infection in Canada was that reported by Weinstein and colleagues some two decades ago.4 In this context, Streptococcus iniae was identified as a relatively novel pathogen. S. iniae may be underrecognized because of its unique microbiological profile, as detailed by the authors.

The number of serious human infections acquired from fish is very small, considering the numerous day-to-day contacts that Canadians have with fish through agriculture, processing or recreational instances. Nevertheless, the use of gloves during the processing of raw food products is likely to reduce adverse outcomes.