Weil's Disease & taking CARE on the bank..

Chatting to a guy this week fishing a local lake.He hooks and lands a small carp,unhooks it and puts it back-no problem with what he did as he took great care......BUT,he then gave his hands a quick wipe with a cloth,took out his sarnies and crisps and started munching away!!

I know him fairly well so I was happy to asked him if he knew about Weill's Disease and the necessity to take care around his personal hygiene when fishing due to the numbers of rats(lots of other animals carry it!)found on this and probably every water in the country.
I mentioned the use of gels that can be rubbed onto the hands prior to eating food or even having a drink from the flask to cut down the risk but he wasn't much interested......just something else to buy and carry and remember to use....(I think he might just buy some though!!)

Anyway,the result of this episode was to put another reminder on FM about this rare disease and the risk(allbeit very small)ALL anglers face when fishing.....I seem to remember one poster(last year?)who actually caught it and spent weeks in hospital??

Not for me to lecture anyone but basic cleanliness such as changing hand cloths EVERY time you go out,using an anti-bacterial gel before eating etc and trying not to actually handle food plus making sure any open wounds are covered etc etc help keep you safe on the bank!!

Good idea to read various articles on the web to get a full picture('cos I'm not an expert on the subject!) AND to remind all you new fishermen-that although it might sound boring its not worth the risk-SO BUY SOME GEL!!

Good call Tee-Cee.
Weils desease ressembles influenza, people think that they just have a cold/flu. This desease is a killer though. Usually spread by rats urine which easily gets into the water. As pointed out, cover open cuts and use hand washing gel. This should go for anyone that enjoys water and the outdoors, canoists etc. Mainly important to use fishermen as disgarded baits etc do attract the rats. I carry a small first aid bag with plasters and sme hand gel. I have hand gel living in my fly vest and another in a small cool bag I use for sandwiches in the summer. Also worth having one in the glove box of the car.

When at the National Water Sports Centre at Home Pierrepont, Nottingham, they recommended that after using the site to drink a can of coca cola. This would help destroy the bacterium causing this condition as increased the pH in ones stomach.

Cheers, Jon

Ken Townley had it about four years ago now. Went to hospital with influenza that couldn't be cured. Just in passing he mentioned soemthing about wanting to get out and do some more fishing and the wised up doctor got through all the tests. Cleared him up, but otherwise he'd have been brown-bread.

It costs about 60p for a small bottle from Asda, perhaps one of the best, and if that's all it costs to save your life, take it!

jon whelan said:

When at the National Water Sports Centre at Home Pierrepont, Nottingham, they recommended that after using the site to drink a can of coca cola. This would help destroy the bacterium causing this condition as increased the pH in ones stomach.

Cheers, Jon

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Wow. Is that based on medical facts or old wives tales? (Coke will clean pennies etc as we all know)

Have a gel bottle in the car and one in each of my fishing bags..if nothing else it is nice to eat your butties with clean hands. And indeed they are just pence.

V05 or l`oreal which one works best?

i now have one in my rucksack i think it was 19p from asda

geoffmaynard said:

Wow. Is that based on medical facts or old wives tales? (Coke will clean pennies etc as we all know)

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Showering in coke is now widley practiced rather than using soap lol.

I know coke (flat coke with the fizz removed by boiling) is good for the skits or an upset stomach.

I got the following advice from this Forum some years ago and have included it in our Club handbook:

WEIL’S DISEASE
Weil's Disease (Leptospirosis) can be a serious risk to anglers and in some (rare) cases can be fatal. The disease is an infection carried in rats urine which contaminates water and banks of lakes, ponds and rivers. It is serious and requires hospital treatment.
An attack of Weil's Disease resembles a cold or flu in the initial stages. The incubation period is from three to 19 days. Early symptoms include: fever, muscular aches and pains, lost of appetite, nausea when lying down. Later symptoms may include: bruising of the skin, sore eyes, nose bleeds, jaundice. The fever lasts for approximately five days, then a significant deterioration follows.
If you become ill a few days after a fishing trip, and you have any of the above symptoms, it is important to contact your doctor mentioning the possibility that you have Weil's disease.
A few sensible precautions to avoid this disease are:
 DO cover with waterproof plasters or gloves (surgical glover are perfect for hand wounds) all scratches, cuts, sores and breaks in the skin. Disinfect any wounds as soon as possible if they occur whilst at the waterside.
 ALWAYS wash your hands or cover food with a wrapper before you eat. Many anglers are now using the alcohol based hand cleaning gels available from Boots and ASDA to disinfect their hands prior to eating etc.
 NEVER put your hand to your mouth after immersion in river water and never place bait or fishing line in the mouth.
 DON'T touch any dead animal especially rats!
 NEVER leave food, groundbait or bait on the bankside as it will attract rats.
Weil's Disease is a notifiable illness in the UK and it is essential to disclose a confirmed case to the local Public Health office, who will need to know where you believe it was caught.

When i was recently in hospital, one of the nurses recommended Cuticura Hand Hygiene Gel, kills 99.9% of bacteria, 100ml £1.35 from Boots.

Re drinking coca cola. The thing with the water sports centre, especially the wake boarding, is that on falling off (which I did more than staying on) if your mouth is slightly open the force of the water literally goes down your throat, the equivalent of 2 big gulps. This was the advice of consuming cola written on the wall of the equipment hut!

I have been thinking about it tho. Stomach acid pH ranges from 1-3. I thought that cola had a pH of 3 similar to that of vinegar. The acid in the stomach can change dependant as to what we consume, so whether drinking cola make the stomach secrete a stronger form of hydrochloric acid I don't know!?! May be there's something else contained in cola that has an indirect effect(?)

Washing of external skin seems to be straight forward, but what can we do if we think we have swallow infected water. Could be a wives tail, but on the occasions I have used the water sports centre cola goes down well afterwards & I'm still here....I think

Cheers, Jon

Good to see some informative posts but its a pity that only 200 or so have viewed this Thread....still,better than nothing I suppose!

As an aside.does anyone know if ANY of these Gels are actually odourless(cannot think why a producer would bother...)...Mine has a smell of sorts and until it wears off I tend to re-bait with a cloth over my fingers....

Tee-Cee said:

As an aside.does anyone know if ANY of these Gels are actually odourless(cannot think why a producer would bother...)...Mine has a smell of sorts and until it wears off I tend to re-bait with a cloth over my fingers....

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Good point. I know that some insect repellants can be the kiss of death when fishing so the same thing could apply. Get Deet on your hook and forget about ever getting a bite, or so they tell me. So it would be good to know if these gels repel fish as well as bugs.

Merv Harrison said:

When i was recently in hospital, one of the nurses recommended Cuticura Hand Hygiene Gel, kills 99.9% of bacteria, 100ml £1.35 from Boots.

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Virtually odourless and dries in seconds. No effect on catches, I still don't.

"No effect on catches,I still don't".......I like that-a bit of light humour this time of day always welcome!!

Will pop to Boots forthwith as my brands-Cutan and Superdrug's own-do leave an odour which fades after a while BUT not soon enough....

I suppose keeping the tackle bag clean(which rests on the ground doesn't it?)externally will also help...even an occasional wash-down will cut down probabilities.....BUT that said I've no doubt we can take the cleanliness lark too far??

Don't know what the actual number of UK cases is but from memory not too many??

Thought I would bring this back again as its so important and unlikely that many saw the Graham Marsden post which is first class!!

Just to add that the Cuticura Hand Hygiene Gel from Boots @ £1.35(as recommended by a fishless Merv Harrison)seem to fit the bill as far as odourless(more or less)is concerned!!

HOPE EVERYONE FOLLOWS THE RECOMMENDATION!

DON'T DELAY....BE SAFE ON THE BANK!!!!!!

And one you can (or could) get from Morrisons called Enliven. Low cost (about £1) and the clear one is almost odourless.