Review on Parasites of Fish and their Public Health Importance

Abstract

Parasitic diseases of fish are of particular importance in the tropics. Parasites usually exist in equilibrium with their host as a survival strategy. However, in instances where hosts are overcrowded such as in aquaria or in fish farms, parasitic diseases can spread very rapidly causing high mortality. Although, this is usually not the case in the wild natural aquatic environments, it occurs when the environment is disturbed by human activity and interference especially with populations which alter the natural distribution of their parasite communities (Imam and Dewu, 2010).