Prevalence of Motile Aeromonas Septicaemia (MAS) in fish culture systems of the Central Brahmaputra Valley Zone of Assam, India
Pabitra Kumar Saharia, Inam Akhtar Hussain, Hemanta Pokhrel, Binod Kalita, Ganesh Borah, Rubina Yasmin
Abstract
The present study was undertaken to find out the incidence of Motile Aeromonas Septicaemia (MAS) in the freshwater aquaculture system in three districts viz. Nagaon, Morigaon and Sonitpur of Assam. A total of 293 number pools were screened for bacteriological and mycotic studies. Out of 293 pools screened, 91 (31.05%) were found to be positive for Aeromonas species, 131 (44.70%) for A. invadans and 55 (18.77%) for S. parasitica. Among Aeromonas genera, A. hydrophila, A. veronii and A. sobria were detected with 51.64%, 21.97% and 18.68% respectively. The prevalence of other Aeromonas species (7.69%) was also recorded during the study. Data on the seasonal prevalence of MAS reveal that the highest prevalence (62.63%) was recorded during the winter season followed by post monsoon (20.87%) and premonsoon (12.08%). Thus, study suggests that motile aeromonads remain an important bacterial pathogen from aquaculture point of view in Assam, which requires regular and constant examination of cultured fish to resist unexpected losses.