Author/Editor		Pate, Mateja; Jenčič, Vlasta; Žolnir-Dovč, Manca; Ocepek, Matjaž
Title		Mycobacterium marinium, a threat to aquarium hobbyists
Translated title		Mycobacterium marinum, grožnja akvaristom
Type		članek
Source		In: Vlahović K, Marinculić H, editors. Zbornik radova 1. hrvatsko slovenski simpozij o egzotičnim i divljim životinjama; 2004 stu 25-27: Zagreb. Zagreb: Hrvatsko veterinarsko društvo,
Publication year		2004
Volume		str. 151-7
Language		eng
Abstract		Piscine mycobacteriosis has been reporfed to affect a wide range of freshwater and marine fish species. The officially recognized etiological agents of this disease are Mycobacterium marinum, M. fortuitum and M. chelonae. Fish mycobacteriosis is also an imporfant zoonozis and poses a significant risk to all human beings working with the affected fish or the aquaria. In this paper, we describe our experience with mycobacteriosis in aquarium fish. In 13 aquarium fish of 5 different species that were investigated for the presence of mycobacteria by culture and molecular methods (a commercially available identification test GenoType Mycobacterium assay and a restriction enzyme analysis of the PCR products), the following mycobacterial species were identified: M. marinum (bx), M. gordonae (2X) and M. chelonae (2X). One specimen was positive using Ziehl-Neelsen (ZN) staining, but the cultivation failed. One specimen was both ZN- and culture-negative. One isolate remained unidentified (Mycobacterium spp.). Besides the results of our study, a shorf overview of mycobacterial infections in fish and humans is also given.
Descriptors		AQUACULTURE FISH DISEASES MYCOBACTERIUM, ATYPICAL MYCOBACTERIUM INFECTIONS, ATYPICAL FISHES POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION