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Re: infectious disease list?

> From: Scott <zerelli at yahoo_com>
> Subject: Re: BGA
> 
> Tom Barr wrote:
> 
> Does it matter if you produce an antibiotic resistant
> cyano(relative to
> the
> tank)? Will your tank die or something?
> <SNIP>
> 
> Tom the danger is not resistant cyano. The danger lies
> in the unknown species in the tank gaining immunity.

Not on same page here. Plant list not infectious diseases list.
Your mixing two different issues. I had hoped to clarify that issue. Your
not avoiding the antiboitic for the plant's sake by any means, perhaps by
producing some antibiotic resistant strain of cyano or other bug that
happens to be in the tank besides BGA. People are another issue.

 The pathways are not that similar so the jump from say Oscillitaria to E.
coli is a rather large jump. Possible but large. Perhaps you could get it to
go but even if you tried it on purpose your going to have some problems.
Such is the life of a gene jockey:) I've done this with ampenicillin and
penicillin resistance gene jockeying. It's not as easy to swap some genes as
many think. Some just don't work no matter what all you try. Perhaps we
didn't try hard enough.

And then it's also an issue of risk. How much risk is produced here by doing
this with antibiotics used for BGA? Not much. When you speak about these
things risk is always the issue. Lowering that risk is good generally but to
what degree should we , as planted aquarist, worry about it? Small potatoes
if you ask me. I'll worry about getting nailed by a car, a drunk, getting it
from our food supply first.

You run the numbers and probabilities. I think you'll see that the chances
are far greater in medical treatment of people/food supplies long before
planted tanks. Think of those numbers and on foods we eat? Your talking
massive numbers. Like billions/trillions of more chances. Personally I don't
think that we should be allowed to use antibiotics at all in the pet
industry or food industry(beef, chicken, farm raised fish, namely salmon
etc), only vet's/doc's with prescriptions. Lose a few fish, have higher food
cost etc. Not too popular position, eh?

> This can happen either by gaining it from a resistant
> cyano via plasmids etc, or it can happen because the
> dose that kills cyano doesn't kill some other bug that
> is pathogenic to US :-)

The dosages for the tanks for BGA are the same as for other bugs when
treating with Erythromycin (a beautiful molecule BTW). Folks not fully
treating the tank is a problem for BGA and other prokaryotes. This increases
risk. This happens much more when dealing with fish infections. BGA is small
potatoes.

Quit picking on plant list and go after "the real problem" if you feel
passionately about this. You'll get my vote. Folks here don't need
antibiotics for BGA. That part I agree on and try to espouse.

Regards, 
Tom Barr