IT'S not just monster sharks you have to watch out for. A humble fish bite has led to a diver becoming infected by a marine bacterium not previously known to cause human disease, say Swiss and Australian researchers.
The victim, a 55-year-old woman, was diving off the Maldive Islands when she was bitten on her ankle. The infection caused serious swelling. The bacteria couldn't be identified by standard tests, but their DNA revealed that they were
"It's an example of how exotic pathogens can do unexpected things. She was lucky because this organism is comparatively harmless," says microbiologist John Bowman of the University of Tasmania in Hobart. The woman was given intravenous antibiotics and she recovered fully.