ABSTRACT
Furunculosis is caused by an infection with Aeromonas salmonicida subspecies salmonicida, which can cause a bacterial septicemia in salmonids. The term furunculosis stems from the boil-like lesions on the skin and in the musculature of infected fish. For chronic infections the fish show lethargy, inappetence, pale gills and darkening of the skin, although such clinical signs are also reported for other bacterial septicemias. The most recognizable clinical signs of disease are hemorrhagic fin and tail erosions, cutaneous hemorrhage and skin ulcerations. Edwardsiellosis is commonly described as a systemic disease, but mild infections in channel catfish have been reported to manifest as small cutaneous lesions located on the posterior-lateral surfaces of the body. An opportunistic bacterial skin and fin disease of all freshwater and occasionally marine fishes. The most recognizable clinical signs of disease are hemorrhagic fin and tail erosions, cutaneous hemorrhage and skin ulcerations.
