TARPON SPRINGS - Brent Perrine wants to know whether there's something in the water.

Laid up for weeks with a nasty skin infection that put his leg in a brace, Perrine is almost certain there was something wrong with the water he swam in on a recent sponge-diving trip to the Gulf of Mexico.

"I've been diving for almost 20 years, and I've never seen water like that," Perrine said. "It was all yellow."

Back at his home in Largo, Perrine, 35, became worried three weeks ago when a dime-sized puncture he had received while diving in the gulf swelled to a grapefruit-sized boil on his knee. But he became more alarmed when he later learned that nearly a dozen commercial fishermen around the state recently had come down with a similar illness.

"That kind of freaked me out," Perrine said.

Perrine was one of three Tarpon Springs sponge divers who recently reported having a painful skin condition thought to be caused by a methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus infection. Commonly known as MRSA, the drug-resistant strain of bacteria was also found in at least 10 fishermen in Port Orange in Volusia County in recent months.

Bob Jones, executive director of the Southeastern Fisheries Association, a statewide fishing industry group, asked Gov. Jeb Bush for help after receiving dozens of reports about fishermen who had recently contracted staphylococcus aureus. If left untreated, it can also cause life-threatening blood infections.

"I was sort of overwhelmed," Jones said. "Most every place that I called, they knew of instances where a fisherman had come down with staph."

Longtime sponge diver Sunny Sebaugh, 71, came down with a severe rash on his legs and feet after running into a wall of cloudy yellow water that left a burning sensation on his skin during a dive earlier this month. He doesn't know if he had MRSA; he just knows it hurt.

"When my body started stinging I thought, "Okay, get the heck out of this stuff,"' Sebaugh said. The gear sponge divers wear varies; sometimes they dive in shorts and a T-shirt and other times in a traditional wet suit.

Widespread fears that the water is the source of fishermen's illness is probably an overreaction, state health officials say. Staph infections are common, and it is not likely that recent cases represent an outbreak among commercial fishermen.

"It's unlikely that this is in the water," said Florida Department of Health spokeswoman Lindsay Hodges. "But the county health departments, particularly Volusia County, and the state are monitoring the situation to see if there is some link."

Staph infections occur most often in places where people are confined to close quarters, such as a prison or hospital or even a cramped fishing vessel.

MRSA is a strain of staph that is less receptive to treatment with certain antibiotics. The bacteria is often found in the nose or on the skin and can sometimes cause lesions that at first look like spider bites. Staph is spread by touching, especially objects such as towels or sheets. It can infect the bones or blood and result in pneumonia or even death, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Web site.

Staph and MRSA infections are not regularly reported, but some estimates place the number of people who are hospitalized each year with MRSA infections at 100,000, according to the CDC.

Strains of the bacteria also can be found in animals. State and federal marine experts are testing three grouper with lesions found by Port Orange fishermen. One of those fish was sent to the Florida Marine Research Institute in St. Petersburg for examination, said Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokesman Scott Willis.

Willis said it could take several days for scientists at the institute to determine the cause of the lesions. But he reaffirmed other experts' opinions that fish-to-human transmission of staph is virtually impossible.

"Fish can get bacterial infections," Willis said. "But is it possible that this staph is the same strain of staph that's showing up (in humans)? That's highly unlikely."

Pinellas County Health Department officials were not surprised to learn about the Tarpon Springs cases this week. The department receives reports of people infected with staph all the time, said county epidemiology program manager Julia Gill. The county has so far received no new reports this month about other fishermen infected with staph, she said.

"The trends that we are seeing in this area are no different than the trends that we're seeing nationwide," Gill said.

In the meantime, county health experts plan to educate local fishermen and others about the bacteria and its treatment.

"To prevent it, they need to not share towels and bedding and close quarters with anyone," Gill said. "If they do have a pustule or boil, they want to make sure they cover it properly. And, of course, its always important to wash your hands."

Questions & answers about staph infections

What is staphlylococcus aureus?

Usually shortened to staph, staphylococcus aureus bacteria are everywhere, including in the noses or on the skin of healthy people. Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus, or MRSA, is a drug-resistant strain of the same bacteria. Infections often start as a small pimple or boil and can spread to the rest of the body.

How do you get it?

Staph or MRSA are usually spread among people in close physical contact with an infected person. Outbreaks have occurred among athletes who shared a locker room and in hospitals and prisons where towels, sheets, and clothes have become contaminated.

How do you prevent an infection?

Avoid sharing personal items such as towels, clothes, razors and bedding. Wounds or breaks in the skin should be kept clean. Keep all infections, especially those that are pus-filled, covered with clean, dry bandages. Do not lance or cut open any skin infection; it could worsen the infection.

- Source: Pinellas County Health Department; Florida Department of Health