Mass mortality of doctor fish (Garra rufa obtusa) caused by Citrobacter freundii infection

Abstract

In this paper, we described a case of mass mortality of doctor fish from a private fish hatchery farm in Korea with a history of abnormal swimming behavior, diffuse bleeding on the skin and fins and sudden death caused by fish pathogenic bacteria, Citrobacter freundii. Twelve moribund fish fingerling samples were submitted to College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul National University in October 2008 for diagnostic examination. Diagnostic results showed that the morphological and biochemical properties of the bacteria isolated from the moribund fish were C. freundii. The remaining diseased fish from the hatchery farm were given treatment based on our recommendation and successfully recovered.