BHADRAK AUTONOMOUS COLLEGE

DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY

TOPIC: Bacterial Diseases in Fish

Presented By:
Saijyoti Panda
+3 3rd Year
Roll No. : BS21-053
 INTRODUCTION TO BACTERIA

• A prokaryotic and single cell microorganism.

• Small in size.
• Don’t have nuclear membranes and also lack membrane bound organelles.
• Can be able to see by using Microscope.
• Unicellular or Single celled microscopic organisms.
• Cell membrane made up of cellulose and chitin.
• Vacuoles.
• Gram-positive and negative.
• Cell walls are thick and thin.
• Lack nuclei and other organized cell structure.
• Some bacteria are pigmented.
 BACTERIAL DISEASES IN FISH

1) Furunculosis
2) Columnaris
3) Dropsy
4) Vibriosis
5) Tuberculosis
6) Bacterial gill disease
7) Fin rot/tail rot
COMMON SYMPTOMS CAUSE

• Lethargic swimming • Lethargic swimming

• Loss of appetite • Loss of appetite
• Respiratory distress • Respiratory distress
• Jumping from the water • Jumping from the water
• Colour of gill changed • Colour of gill changed
• Fins become frayed • Fins become frayed
1. FURUNCULOSIS

Causative agent - Aeromonas salmonicida

• Furunculosis is highly contagious disease that affects fish of all ages.
• The infection causes high mortality in salmonids, though some other species of fish are affected.
• Horizontal transmission occurs via the water column, but also through direct fish-to-fish contact
and animal vectors.
 SYMPTOMS:

1. Furuncles involving skin and/or muscle progressing to lesions.

2. Haemorrhages on the skin, mouth and fin bases.
3. Darkening of body colour and pale gills.
4. Bloody discharge from nares and/or vent.
5. Stomach filled with mucus, blood.
TREATMENT:
• To drain the pond and treat it with slaked lime.
• Treatment is done by removing the severely infected fishes from the pond and by supplying food
containing antibiotics like nitrofurans or sulphonamides etc.
• Disinfection may be done with 0.015 % sol. of Merthiolate or 0.185 % sol. of Acriflavine . 1%
provindone-iodine sol. is most recommended ones owing to its relatively lesser toxicity compared to
other disinfectants.
• Iodine is used to decontaminate the surface of fertilised eggs to prevent vertical transmission (passage
of infection from parent to offspring).
2. COLUMNARIS

Causative Organism: Flexibacter columnaris/Chondrococcus columnaris

• Often mistaken for a fungal infection because of its mold-like lesions.
• Columnaris is a common bacterial infection in aquarium fish, particularly livebearing fish and catfish.
SYMPTOMS:

1. White spots on mouth, edges of scales, and fins.

2. Fins disintegrate beginning at the edges.
3. 'Saddleback' lesion near the dorsal fin.

TREATMENT:

• Add antibiotic in water .

• Normally used antibiotics include the chloramphenicol ( 10 ppm. repeated at 2-5 days interval )
and furance ( 0.1 – 0.3 ppm ) in which the infected fishes with cotton mouth disease are kept for a
long time bath.
3. INFECTIOUS DROPSY

Causative agent- Pseudomonas punctata

• Dropsy is an old medical term that was once used to describe swelling due to accumulation of fluids
in the tissues or body cavities, such as the abdomen. Fish suffering from Dropsy often have a hugely
swollen belly.
• It was the most feared disease in carp culture.
SYMPTOMS:

• Swollen belly Scales stand out.

• Eyes bulge.
• Anus becomes red and swollen.
• Internal organs are affected, most notably the liver and kidneys.
• Spine may become curved.
• Fish hangs near the surface.

TREATMENT:

• Removal and complete destruction of fishes , followed by draining , drying and disinfecting
the fish pond with quicklime is suggested to prevent spread of the disease.
• The infected fishes may be cured by a two minutes dip in 5 mg / KMnO4 sol.
• Resistant strains bacteria may be killed by applying streptomycin or chloromycetin or
oxytetracyclin along with supplementary food or by injecting the severely infected fishes .
4. VIBRIOSIS

Causative agent – Vibrio anguillarum

• This is comma shaped bacterium.
• It enters the animal via their food and attacks the gastrointestinal tract.
• found in all species in saltwater
• It multiplies in the skin of salmonids, but the toxins produced act on the circulating blood cells
causing severe anaemia.
• This disease occurs more than readily at temperture above 11°c
SYMPTOMS:

1. Large bright colour body lesions in the skin and muscles.

2. Gills may bleed with slightly pressure.
3. Inflammation of intestinal tract.
4. Eye problems with cloudy eye, leading to pop- eye and finally eye loss.

TREATMENT:

• Dip treatment in copper sulphate sol. and application of antibiotics with artificial food may be
considered as curative measures for vibrosis.
5. TUBERCULOSIS

Causative agent- Mycobactrium piscium.

• A bacterium closely related to Mycobacterium tuberculosis called Mycobacterium piscium can be
present in wild caught as well as captive bred fish and stay lurking in our aquariums without us ever
realizing it.
• Fish can be treated with the same drugs as humans get when they become infected by Mycobacterium
piscium, e.g. Kanamycin
SYMPTOMS:

• Fin rot, waxy coat on body , ulcer on body.

• Nodules in the internal organs
• loss appetite
• Loss body weight
• Loss of scales
• Loss of colours.

TREATMENT:

• Dip treatment for one minute in 1 : 2000 copper sulphate sol. for 3-4 days may be useful. •
Alternatively the fishes may be destroyed and the pond sterized with KMnO4 or with soaked lime
restocking .
 PREVENTIONS

 Perform regular water changes.

 Keep the tank clean.
 Clean the filter regularly.
 Avoid overcrowding the tank.
 Use flake foods within one month of opening.
 Use disinfect nets and other equipment's.
 If the tank is well maintained, and the fish fed a healthy diet, outbreaks of any bacterial disease
are unlikely.
THANK YOU