TWENTY-SEVEN YEAR HISTORY OF FISH DISEASE CASES DIAGNOSED AT THE KENTUCKY STATE UNIVERSITY FISH DISEASE DIAGNOSTIC LABORATORY FROM 1990 THROUGH 2016.  

From 1990 through 2016, about 1,500 cases were examined at the Kentucky State University Fish Disease Diagnostic Laboratory. Eighty-eight percent of cases were from Kentucky; other cases were from Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee, Illinois, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Arkansas and Texas. Channel catfish and largemouth bass comprised the highest percentages of cases; other species examined included hybrid striped bass, koi, rainbow trout, bluegill sunfish, goldfish, tilapia, angelfish, paddlefish, crappie, blue catfish, bait minnows, channel x blue catfish hybrids, shrimp, yellow perch, sturgeons, Australian red claw crayfish, flathead catfish, brook trout, brown trout, hybrid bluegills, white bass, striped bass, muskellunge, koi x goldfish hybrids, smallmouth bass, discus, northern cavefish and guppies. Forty percent of cases involved internal bacteria contributing to mortality. The most frequently occurring bacteria were Aeromonas hydrophila/sobria complex (40%) and Flavobacterium columnare (19%). Thirty-two percent of the bacteria were antibiotic-resistant to Terramycin^®, 19% were resistant to Romet^®, and one percent was resistant to Aquaflor^®. Among parasites diagnosed as the cause of disease, gill monogenes, Ich, and external fungus occurred most frequently.