Occurrence of <i>Mycobacterium</i> spp. in ornamental fish

Abstract

Introduction and objective. Fish mycobacteriosis is a chronic granulomatous disease caused by several species of bacteria from the genus Mycobacterium, described as nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM). The most important species causing fish mycobacterioses are M. chelonae, M. fortuitum, and M. marinum. Mycobacteria infecting fish also include zoonotic pathogens. M. marinum is the cause of most cases of fish-related mycobacterial infection in humans. The disease occurs more frequently in workers in the fishing industry, people whose hobbies involve water activities, and aquarists. The aim of the present study was to examine the occurrence of different species of mycobacteria in freshwater ornamental fish. Materials and method. The occurrence of Mycobacterium spp. in freshwater ornamental fish was studied from January 2015-December 2016. Material isolated from skin scrapings, contents of the digestive tracts, and internal organs of ornamental fish was stained with Ziehl-Neelsen (ZN) and inoculated on Lowenstein-Jensen medium. All isolates found positive by ZN were identified by amplification of the gene encoding the Hsp65 protein. A total of 408 samples obtained from 136 ornamental fish from 36 species were tested. Results. Using the culture method Mycobacterium was isolated from 69 fish (50.1%) and 99 samples (24.3%). Sequence analysis of gene fragments coding for the Hsp65 protein of 99 isolates revealed occurrence of 13 species of mycobacteria: M.

Mixed Infection of Mycobacterium szulgai, M. lentiflavum, and Gram-Negative Bacteria as a Cause of Death in a Brown Caiman Caiman crocodylus: A Case Report

“…Noteworthy, some of the currently identified bacteria are potentially zoonotic for humans. Many epidemiologic studies suggest that the water environment is the principal source of human exposure to NTM [ 24 , 32 , 33 ]. Reptiles and fish are often household pets, and if colonized, can be a source of pathogens for owners or other people exposed directly or indirectly to the animal via a contaminated environment [ 32 , 34 , 35 ].…”

“…Many epidemiologic studies suggest that the water environment is the principal source of human exposure to NTM [ 24 , 32 , 33 ]. Reptiles and fish are often household pets, and if colonized, can be a source of pathogens for owners or other people exposed directly or indirectly to the animal via a contaminated environment [ 32 , 34 , 35 ]. Indeed, the incidence of mycobacterial diseases, particularly pulmonary mycobacteriosis, is growing in Europe and on other continents [ 35 , 36 ].…”

Systemic mycobacteriosis along with concurrent fibroma in Goldfish, Carassius auratus from India

“…In the present case, the lesions in kidney and spleen of goldfish were clearly suggestive of systemic mycobacteriosis. Mycobacteriosis is a common bacterial disease affecting ornamental fish (Noga, 2010;Delghandi et al, 2020;Puk and Guz, 2020), and goldfish is reported to be more prone to mycobacteriosis (Francis-Floyd, 2011). Importantly, systemic granuloma formation is the characteristic histopathological alteration of chronic mycobacterial infection in fish (Talaat et al, 1998;Martınez-Lara et al, 2021) and several non-tuberculous mycobacteria, namely M. marinum, M. fortuitum, M. chelonae and M. gordonae have been incriminated as etiological agent of mycobacteriosis in goldfish (Pate et al, 2005).…”

Antibiotic susceptibility of mycobacteria isolated from ornamental fish

“…Astronotus ocellatus , Carassius auratus , Colisa lalia , Cyprinus carpio subsp. haematopterus , Danio rerio , Helostoma temminckii , Hyphessobrycon serape , Labidochromis caeruleus , Microgeophagus ramirezi , Paracheirodon innesi , Poecilia reticulata , Symphysodon discus , Trichogaster lalius , Xiphophorus helleri and X. maculatus ) ( 15 , 19 , 23 , 31 , 44 , 45 ). The most common NTM pathogens of fish include M .…”

“…marinum , M. fortuitum , M. peregrinum and M. chelonae . Other species isolated from fish include M. abscessus , M. arupense , M. avium , M. chesapeaki , M. conceptionense , M. flavescens , M. gordonae , M. haemophilum , M. kansasii , M. montefiorense , M. mucogenicum , M. neoaurum , M. nonchromogenicum , M. parascrofulaceum , M. porcinum , M. pseudoshottsii , M. salmoniphilum , M. saopaulense , M. scrofulaceum , M. senegalense , M. septicum , M. shimoidei , M. shottsii , M. simiae , M. terrae , M. szulgai , M. triviale , M. triplex , M. ulcerans and M. xenopi ( 18 , 23 , 34 , 41 , 43 , 44 , 45 ). In recent years, human nontuberculous mycobacterial infections and diseases have significantly increased ( 32 ).…”