Are frog susceptible to Fish Tuberculosis?

There are a few species of Mycobacterium that affects aquatic frogs in the genera Xenopus, Hymenochirus and Silurana: Mycobacterium fortuitum, M. marinum, M. piscium and M.chelone.

There is an interesting article about a new species of Mycobacterium and Xenopus in

Godfrey, D; Williamson, H.; Silverman, J.; Small, P.L.C. Newly identified Mycobacterium species in a Xenopus laevis colony.Comparative Medicine. 2007; 57 (1): 97-104. ISSN: 1532-0820

Hopefully, the disease will not affect your frogs. I understand that it has a high mortality rate.

Oh boy.
I sure hope that I am not looking at an infection in my tank.
I'd have to start from scratch all over. And all my little frogs.......................

Originally Posted by FrogFarm

I recently brought in some plants and a single male guppy from a friend.
The plants I rinsed off and added to my 15 gallon frog colony (also houses z. danios) with some antibacterial/fungal guard, the guppy I left in small 1 gallon or so vase until further notice.

Anyways, the guppy is showing signs of what I think might be Fish TB. I'm pretty choked because I already added the plants thinking my friend would have mentioned if they may not be safe.

So I wondering if anyone here knows whether or not the disease can/will affect my frogs.
I know they can carry it and pass it to other fish - but will it harm them?

As harsh as it may sound the frogs are a lot more important to me than the fish in said tank, and I would really hate to lose them.

Hello,

Yes, mycobacteria of various species ("fish TB", or more correctly mycobacteriosis) can affect frogs, as mentioned.

However, a few comments:

You don't describe the signs you're seeing, but nothing is pathognomic (i.e. signs that indicate a specific disease, and only that disease) for mycobacteriosis. It may be worth trying to confirm the problem

Mycobacterial organisms are fairly ubiquitous in the environment, particularly the aquatic environment. It's probably fair to say that very few set-ups have no mycobacteria in them, and this should be taken into account when they are found. Full disinfection/replacement of everything including the animals and the tank doesn't mean there won't be some mycobacteria in the tank soon after you set a new one up, although it will presumably tend to be less than in an established system.

Because it can be slow to show, it's very difficult to be reasonably sure that any frog or fish you buy isn't carrying it (and very few importers/breeders will carry out even basic monitoring), again meaning that depopulation and replacement is no guarantee

Not always, but mycobacteriosis is usually a sporadic disease - it's not generally highly infectious. If established in a tank, the likely situation will be occasional problems rather than an acute wipe-out.

As with any pathogen, it is to some extent a balance between the number/pathogenicity of the bug and the immune system of the frogs, so optimising conditions for the frogs and limiting as much as possible the load of mycobacteria (via hygiene, possible uv filter) is the best defence. Obviously, you don't want an infected animal spreading lots into the water.

There are treatment options, although it has to be said that none are established as generally effective, and many texts advise euthanasia

You also need to bear in mind that mycobacteriosis is a zoonosis (i.e. can affect humans, typically with nodules on the hands). Again, infectivity is generally low, but only you can decide on level of risk you'll accept.

Hope this helps,

Bruce.