Coccidiosis

Symptoms:

Fish present with nodular, raised white areas in the middle and anterior gut due to inflammation of the intestine. Other symptoms may include trailing feces and darkening of body color. This disease affects mainly carp and marine fish.

Cause:

The coccidia of the genus Eimeria. A fish becomes infected when it ingests oocysts that have been passed in the feces of another host, which then infect the epithelium as well as many of the internal organs, including the gonads. The oocyst exists in the fish's small intestine, where they can reproduce asexually. Each generation of asexual reproduction produces multiple merozoites; the merozoites are liberated from the cell and infect new cells. It is this stage of the infection that can result in destruction of massive numbers of cells in the host's small intestine and, ultimately, lead to the host's death.

Treatment:

The best chemical therapeutic is Amprolium, which is a prescription drug and therefore must be acquired from a veterinarian. Albon Sulfadimethoxine Solution 12 ½% is used to treat poultry and cattle for a wide range of bacterial infections and enteritis associated with coccidiosis and could be modified to treat fish.


	Welcome DiseasesCoccidiosis			Search for: