I know many of us (myself included) rarely wear protective gloves when working on our tanks. We try to make sure our hands are clean and there isn't anything on them that can hurt our fish. But we don't always consider cleaning the tank any danger to ourselves (at least not unless they are so deep we stand a chance of falling in *grin*). So I'm posting this info as a FYI; nothing to panic over. If your hands are free from open wounds (cuts/scratches) chances are EXTREMELY small one will catch anything; obviously this chance increases with open wounds. But do be sure to read the article posted below; forewarned is forearmed:
There is a disease one can catch from working in fish tanks; tis a distant cousin of TB called Mycobacterium marinum. Its fairly rare, but I know of 4 people who have managed to pick it up from the aquarium hobby. Without treatment it can be pretty serious. Theres a great article about it by Steve Pro here, which explains what it is and what can happen MUCH better then I (graphic pics near the end of the article so be warned): http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-07/sp/feature/index.htm
There is a disease one can catch from working in fish tanks; tis a distant cousin of TB called Mycobacterium marinum. Its fairly rare, but I know of 4 people who have managed to pick it up from the aquarium hobby. Without treatment it can be pretty serious. Theres a great article about it by Steve Pro here, which explains what it is and what can happen MUCH better then I (graphic pics near the end of the article so be warned): http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-07/sp/feature/index.htm