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Fish Research Paper

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Treatment & Prevention in fishes
Currently, there is no widely accepted treatment for mycobacteriosis because of the limited and varying success reported with conventional antibiotics in certain species of Mycobacterium. The reasons for this is due to resistance of several species to the fish immune system and the structure of the organism whereby it has a dense, waxy-like cell wall that prevents penetration of many common disinfectants. Due to this, agents like chlorine require higher doses and extended contact time. However, species susceptibility differs as M. marinum is more susceptible to chlorine than species such as M.chelonae. There have been records of the use of formalin or phenolic compounds as a disinfectant on farms. There are …show more content…

For example, disease levels could be kept low by using a water-cooling system in fish ponds during summer or by soaking nets and other equipment in 200mg/l chlorine for 5 minutes. It is important to know the history of new animals entering the facility and quarantine all sick or newly imported animals. The use of ultraviolet sterilization has been reported to be effective in the prevention of pathogens. Trash fish or dead fish carcasses used as a source of protein in fish feed for should be heated for 30 minutes at 76˚C to eradicate any pathogenic mycobacteria. On the other hand, dead fishes should be burned or buried in quicklime. There are no vaccines for fish mycobacteriosis.

Human health
Several Mycobacterium species are zoonotic with M. marinum being the most commonly recovered from skin lesions in humans. Other species that can infect humans include M. fortuitum, M. intracellulare, M. kansasii and M. chelonae. M. fortuitum was previously cultured from patients with pulmonary disease and local abscesses while M. chelonae as isolated from heterography heart-valve transplants and lesions have been found in synovial fluid and muscle. Transmission to humans occur from contact with contaminated water sources or infected fish through an entry point such as breaks in skin. Severity of human infection depends on the immune status hence, it primarily a concern in immunocompromised individuals. Generally found in aquaria, infections can occur when cleaning or maintenance of

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