Granulomatous skin lesions in moray eels caused by a novel Mycobacterium species related to Mycobacterium triplex.

ABSTRACT: An outbreak of granulomatous dermatitis was investigated in a captive population of moray eels. The affected eels had florid skin nodules concentrated around the head and trunk. Histopathological examination revealed extensive granulomatous inflammation within the dermis and subcutaneous fascial plane between the fat and axial musculature. Acid-fast rods were detected within the smallest lesions, which were presumably the ones that had developed earliest. Eventually, after several months of incubation at room temperature, a very slowly growing acid-fast organism was isolated. Sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene identified it as a Mycobacterium species closely related (0.59% divergence) to M. triplex, an SAV mycobacterium. Intradermal inoculation of healthy green moray eels with this organism r

SUBMITTER: Herbst LH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC98541 | biostudies-literature | 2001 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature