DIAGNOSIS AND CONTROL OF EPIZOOTIC ULCERATIVE SYNDROME (EUS) IN THE SNAKE HEAD, CHANNA PUNCTATUSK. Thirunavukkarasu, P. Damotharan and V. RaviAbstract A survey on epizootic ulcerative syndrome (EUS) was carried in Channa punctatus and skin ulcerative lesions in three other fishes from irrigational canal near Parangipettai railway station during the period of disease outbreak January 2018 to January 2019. During the present study, a total of 126 specimens of well cultured fish exhibited ulcerative lesions, which included 78 specimens of Channa punctatus, 9 specimens of C. striatus, 22 specimens Cyprinus carpio, 17 specimens of Clarius sp. EUS infection was the recorded commonly in Channa punctatus and the least was observed in C. striatus. EUS infection characterized darkening or reddening of the body with small red patched and subsequent skin erosion leading to the development of ulceration on the body surface and the lesions were often pale with peripheral areas of erythema and the central zone of scales lifted away from the body wall. The results revealed that the treatment of EUS is possible with the indigenous herbal plants such as Azardirachta indica (neem), Curcuma longa (turmeric), Pongamia pinnata and Glycyrrhiza sp., had good activity against the above disease, which is because of their antimicrobial property against bacteria and fungi. Besides bringing back the infected fish to normal health, the simple and low-cost treatment using locally available plant products helped in disinfecting the irrigation well. On the basis of present study, it is recommended that this treatment can be effectively and safely used to control the EUS infection in large tanks and ponds. |