Characterization of bacterial haemorrhagic septicaemia (BHS), diagnosed in ornamental fish in Uruguay

Abstract

In the present work a survey of bacterial diseases affecting ornamental fish in Uruguay was performed. Fish evidencing signs of disease were collected in pet-shops and farms, postmortem examinations, histopathology became and samples for bacteriology were taken. The isolates were obtained from kidney, ascitic fluid or skin lesions. Bacteria were isolated in TSA and then were identified by API 20 NE kit. From a total of 105 samples, 57.6% of clinical cases were identified as Bacterial Hemorrhagic Septicemia (SHB) showing three different clinical forms: Acute septicemic Ascitic Subacute and Chronic Colitis. For each clinical form, symptoms, the affected fish species and the bacteria isolated are described. The most common clinical form is Acute Septicemic (63.3% of cases), which is usually associated with severe ectoparasitosis with high morbidity and mortality. The most commonly involved bacteria are Aeromonas hydrophila and Pseudomonas fluorescens, although other Gramnegative were isolated. It should be stressed that these bacteria could be potentially zoonotic.