Investigation on Infectious Dropsy of Indian Major Carps

Abstract

Dropsy is a common disease often reported to cause mortality and morbidity in cultured Indian major carps. The present investigation was undertaken to find out the etiological agent of sporadic occurrences of infectious dropsy in Indian major carps cultured in different aquaculture regions of India. Among the three species of Indian major carps, Catla catla was most susceptible (41.66%) followed by Labeo rohita (31.49%) and Cirrhinus mrigala (26.66%). A survey of the three major aquaculture regions of the country such as Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal over the last seven years revealed dropsy in 12.14 ±2.52, 9.4 ±1.36 and 12.14 ±2.52% cases, respec-tively. Aeromonas hydrophila was found to be the causative agent of the dropsy condi-tions in almost all cases. However, the present investigation ruled out the involvement of any viral agent in this condition of Indian major carp.