Tuberculosis of fish

The causes for the decrease in the catch of Pacific salmon over the past few years have been the subject of much controversy. A disease caused by an acid-fast organism and commonly called “fish tuberculosis,” one of a number of possible serious diseases affecting adult fish, may be contributing to this loss to a much greater extent than has been previously realized.

The purpose of this review of the literature is to serve as an introductory and orienting report by bringing up to date the information on identification of the etiological agent, host range, and experimental work on pathogenicity.