Bacterial Kidney Disease in Feral Populations of Brook Trout ( Salvelinus fontinalis), Brown Trout ( Salmo trutta), and Rainbow Trout ( Salmo gairdneri)

• Published in: Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada
• Main Authors: Mitchum, Douglas L., Sherman, Loris E., Baxter, George T.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1979
• Subjects: Catostomus catostomus
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/f79-196; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/f79-196

Incidence and effects of bacterial kidney disease (BKD) were determined in wild, naturally reproducing populations of brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis), brown trout (Salmo trutta), and rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri) in a small lake and stream system in southeastern Wyoming, USA where BKD epizootics have been observed since 1972. During 1976, dead fish were collected at three upstream stations, and 60 live fish were collected from each of 11 stations. All fish were necropsied, and virological, bacteriological, and parasitological examinations were conducted by standard methods. An indirect fluorescent antibody technique was used to detect the BKD organism in cultures and kidney tissue smears. Bacterial kidney disease was diagnosed in 100% of the dead brook trout collected. Incidence among live fish ranged from 83% at an upstream station to only 3% at the most downstream location, and was highest in brook trout and lowest in rainbow trout. Two longnose suckers (Catostomus catostomus), the only non-salmonids collected, were found negative for BKD. Clinical signs of infection and the most severe infections were found only in brook trout. Five age-classes of feral brook trout were involved in the epizootics. Since other known pathogens were essentially absent, it is believed that all deaths were due to BKD. Relationships between species susceptibility to BKD, age-classes, water chemistry and water temperatures, and certain ecological conditions are discussed. Key words: bacterial kidney disease, feral trout, epizootics, brook trout, brown trout, rainbow trout