Zoonoses associated with fish.

The taxonomic group that composes the fishes is the most diverse group of vertebrates worldwide. The challenges of unique physiologies, a foreign environment, and many unknowns attract a passionate group of biologists and veterinarians. Economically, fishes have become vital as food, bait, and companion animals. Fishermen and fish handlers (processing plants) represent the historical human population exposed to fish zoonoses, but growth in aquaculture and aquarium hobbyists have led to an increase in published fish-borne zoonotic cases starting in the late 1950s that bloomed in the 1980s. Human physicians, particularly dermatologists and infectious disease specialists, are now more aware of fish-borne zoonoses, but they can be assisted with diagnosis when informed patients give more detailed histories with fish/water exposure.