TY - JOUR
T1 - Mycobacteriosis in zebrafish (Danio rerio) research facilities
AU - Kent, Michael L.
AU - Whipps, Christopher M.
AU - Matthews, Jennifer L.
AU - Florio, Daniela
AU - Watral, Virginia
AU - Bishop-Stewart, Janell K.
AU - Poort, Melanie
AU - Bermudez, Luiz
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported in part by NIH grants 5R24RR017386-02 and P40 RR12546.
PY - 2004/7
Y1 - 2004/7
N2 - The Zebrafish International Resource Center was established to support the zebrafish research community, and includes a diagnostic service. One of the most common diseases that we have diagnosed is mycobacteriosis, which represented 18% of the diagnostic cases submitted from November 1999 to June 2003. We describe here the severity of the disease and associated pathological changes of 24 diagnostic cases from 14 laboratories. Identifications of the bacteria are provided for seven of these cases. For two cases in which culture of the organism was not successful, these identifications were based on ribosomal DNA (rDNA) sequence analysis obtained directly from infected tissues. Biochemical characteristics and rDNA sequence analysis from cultures are reported for the other isolates. Two severe outbreaks from different facilities on different continents were associated with an organism identified as Mycobacterium haemophilum based on rDNA sequence from tissues. Another severe outbreak was associated with an organism most closely related to Mycobacterium peregrinum. These species are recognized pathogens of humans, but this is the first report of them from fish. Bacteria identified as Mycobacterium chelonae or M. abscessus were recovered from fish in cases categorized as moderate disease or as an incidental finding. These findings indicate that species of Mycobacterium previously undescribed from fish (i.e., M. haemophilum and M. peregrinum) may pose significant health problems in zebrafish research facilities, whereas species and strains that are already recognized as common in fish usually cause limited disease on a population basis in zebrafish.
AB - The Zebrafish International Resource Center was established to support the zebrafish research community, and includes a diagnostic service. One of the most common diseases that we have diagnosed is mycobacteriosis, which represented 18% of the diagnostic cases submitted from November 1999 to June 2003. We describe here the severity of the disease and associated pathological changes of 24 diagnostic cases from 14 laboratories. Identifications of the bacteria are provided for seven of these cases. For two cases in which culture of the organism was not successful, these identifications were based on ribosomal DNA (rDNA) sequence analysis obtained directly from infected tissues. Biochemical characteristics and rDNA sequence analysis from cultures are reported for the other isolates. Two severe outbreaks from different facilities on different continents were associated with an organism identified as Mycobacterium haemophilum based on rDNA sequence from tissues. Another severe outbreak was associated with an organism most closely related to Mycobacterium peregrinum. These species are recognized pathogens of humans, but this is the first report of them from fish. Bacteria identified as Mycobacterium chelonae or M. abscessus were recovered from fish in cases categorized as moderate disease or as an incidental finding. These findings indicate that species of Mycobacterium previously undescribed from fish (i.e., M. haemophilum and M. peregrinum) may pose significant health problems in zebrafish research facilities, whereas species and strains that are already recognized as common in fish usually cause limited disease on a population basis in zebrafish.
KW - Danio rerio
KW - Mycobacterium abscessus
KW - Mycobacterium chelonae
KW - Mycobacterium haemophilum
KW - Mycobacterium peregrinum
KW - Mycobacterium septicum
KW - zebrafish
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=7944224834&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=7944224834&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.cca.2004.08.005
DO - 10.1016/j.cca.2004.08.005
M3 - Article
C2 - 15533796
AN - SCOPUS:7944224834
VL - 138
SP - 383
EP - 390
JO - Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology - C Toxicology and Pharmacology
JF - Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology - C Toxicology and Pharmacology
SN - 1532-0456
IS - 3
ER -