Studies of fish diseases have rapidly been given an assured status since 1976 with the assistance of the FAO/UNDP project and, particularly, the studies in the field of enzyme diagnostics have made great progress. At present, virological and immunological studies of fish diseases are being initiated.
In the field of microbiological studies of fish diseases, bacteria different from Aeromonas salmonicida were isolated from common carp with erythrodermatitis. Studies on sensitivity of the isolates to drugs have led to development of a new drug and establishing of a therapeutic procedure with a bath technique, using that drug. Pathogenic bacterial strains of Genus Pasteurella and Genus Myxobacterium were isolated from diseased sheatfish and the microbiological properties of the isolates are now being examined. In addition, a species of gliding bacteria was isolated from common carp and fry of sheatfish and it is considered, as a result of detailed bacterial examination, that this species might be identified as Flexibacter columnaris.
It is natural that, when freshwater fishes are cultured more intensively, they develop various diseases more frequently and the disease becomes more prevalent. It is necessary to isolate and identify the pathogenes of these diseases and at the same time to conduct studies to establish preventive and therapeutic methods against these diseases. It seems very possible that these studies can be made with the ability possessed by the research team of the FCRI.
