Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Mass deaths in koi carp caused by Proteus hauseri bacteria
By Kumar, Raj et al.·Published in Acta tropica·2015·National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources Cochin Unit, India·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Mass mortality in ornamental fish, Cyprinus carpio koi caused by a bacterial pathogen, Proteus hauseri.
- Species:
- fish
Plain-English summary
A group of koi carp were found to be very sick, with half of them dying from a bacterial infection caused by Proteus hauseri. Researchers identified this bacteria as the culprit after testing and injecting healthy koi with it, which caused similar symptoms within just three days. The infected fish were treated with ciprofloxacin, an antibiotic, and they recovered well from the infection. This case highlights the importance of identifying the right bacteria to effectively treat sick fish.
People also search for: koi carp disease treatment · bacterial infection in koi · ciprofloxacin for fish illness
Abstract
Moribund koi carp, Cyprinus carpio koi, from a farm with 50% cumulative mortality were sampled with the aim of isolating and detecting the causative agent. Three bacterial species viz., Citrobacter freundii (NSCF-1), Klebsiella pneumoniae (NSKP-1) and Proteus hauseri [genomospecies 3 of Proteus vulgaris Bio group 3] (NSPH-1) were isolated, identified and characterized on the basis of biochemical tests and sequencing of the 16S rDNA gene using universal bacterial primers. Challenge experiments with these isolates using healthy koi carp showed that P. hauseri induced identical clinical and pathological states within 3 d of intramuscular injection. The results suggest P. hauseri (NSPH-1) was the causative agent. In phylogenetic analysis, strain NSPH-1 formed a distinct cluster with other P. hauseri reference strains with ≥99% sequence similarity. P. hauseri isolates were found sensitive to Ampicillin, Cefalexin, Ciprofloxacin and Cefixime and resistant to Gentamycin, Oxytetracycline, Chloramphenicol, and Kanamycin. The affected fish recovered from the infection after ciprofloxacin treatment.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26028178/