A survey was carried out on occurrence of Mycobacterium marinum in fish kept in aquaria and those living in their natural environment. Species‐specific qPCR targeting the erp and IS 2404 genes together with the conventional culture method were used. The analysis of 72 ornamental fish ( n = 216 samples: gills, muscle and intestine) collected from aquaria revealed the presence of M. marinum in 30 individuals (41.7%) of whom 17 (...

The M ycobacterium marinum group ( MMG ) is a class of mycobacteria that includes M . marinum , the cause of chronic systemic infections in fish. This species occasionally causes granulomatous skin lesions in humans. Other members of MMG are mycolactone‐producing mycobacteria ( MPM ; M . ulcerans , M . shottsii and M . pseudoshottsii ). The cultivation‐independent approach presented in this study brings a fast and reliable alt...

A survey of the occurrence of mycobacteria was conducted from 717 freshwater fish (25 species) in two water reservoirs, five ponds and two farms in the Czech Republic. A total of 2182 tissue samples from these fish were examined using the conventional culture method. Thirteen mycobacterial isolates were obtained from 12 (1.7%) fish belonging to nine species. Isolates were identified using sequence analysis of the 16S rRNA gene...

Mycobacteriosis in fish is a chronic progressive ubiquitous disease caused by Mycobacterium marinum, M. gordonae and M. fortuitum in most cases. The aim of this study was to describe the morphology and distribution of lesions in 322 freshwater ornamental fish across 36 species. Granulomatous inflammation was diagnosed by gross examination and histopathology testing in 188 fish (58.4%); acid‐fast rods (AFR) were determined in o...