Aeromonas Infections in African Sharptooth Catfish

Abstract

Several cases of septicemia in African Sharptooth catfish, Clarias gariepinus, have been submitted to our lab by the local fishermen in Qena, Egypt, who reported that such case, have recently increased in the small tributaries of the River Nile. Although there is no official data for the rates of infections and mortalities, our preliminary investigations indicated that main cause of such infections is Aeromonas. Genus Aeromonas causes serious problems in various fish and shellfish species that is characterized by septicemia and resulting in mass mortalities and high economic losses [1,2]. Out of the 24 reported species within the genus [3], only Aeromonas hydrophila, Aeromonas veronii, Aeromonas caviae, and Aeromonas jandaei are considered the main species that infect fish [4,5] causing Motile Aeromonas Septicemia (MAS).