Whirling Disease Info

Oddball

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Whirling disease is caused by a microscopic parasite (Myxobolus cerebralis) and was introduced from Europe in the 1950’s. The parasite has a two-host life cycle, infecting both Salmonids and a common aquatic worm, Tubifex tubifex. M. cerebralis attacks mainly juvenile fish. The parasite infects cartilage tissue of Salmonids and causes skeletal deformation and neurological damage. Fish "whirl" forward in an awkward, corkscrew-like pattern instead of swimming normally and find feeding difficult. The mortality rate is high for fingerlings, up to 90% of infected populations, and those that do survive are deformed by the parasites residing in their cartilage and bone. They act as a reservoir for the parasite, which is released into water following the fish's death. The parasite is not transmissible to humans.

The disease is known to occur in 23 states. The parasite is spread through movement of infected fish and through water or mud containing the parasite spores.

Mcerebralismap.jpg Mcerebralis.jpg

Check with your state's DNR to see if your tanks may be at risk of the disease through the collection of rocks, driftwood, plants, water, and fish from possibly infected bodies of water.

There is no known foolproof treatment for whirling disease. Several drugs have shown abilities to reduce the disease populations in aquaculture but, none have proven to be completely effective. If an aquarium is identified as being affected by M. cerebralis, the only effective method of eradicating the disease is to destroy the biota in that aquarium (dispose of remain only after cleansing the tissues with either soaking in bleach or soaking in a saturated salt solution. The aquarium, rocks, filters, accessories, and gravel will require a thorough cleaning with bleach.

If you feed tubifex worms to your fish, ensure that the worms come from a source that is not known to harbor the parasite.

Mcerebralismap.jpg

Mcerebralis.jpg
 

Aquanero

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Good info. One of the few effective treatments if cought early is a combination of Kanamycin and Metronidazole. Food can be soaked and feed and the water can also be treated at the same time. Tubaflex worms are usually very dirty due to the conditions they are grown in and I never recomend them as a food source.
 
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