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Re: Blackworms and whirling disease?

> This runs counter to the advice we received from Barry Cooper, who should
> know. Blackworms are not host to *any* known fish pathogens.
>
> Much of the country gets blackworms from the California sources (food
> factories), where they are not exposed to fish or fish waste. Some worms in
> the far eastern parts of the country (i.e., east of the Rockies) may come
> from trout farms, but I've never heard of whirling disease from the worms.
>
>
Myxobolus cerebralis
Here is a little tidbit on whirling disease. The responsible organism is
Myxobolus cerebralis. Tubifex and black worms are both considered an
oligochaete.

<Snipet>
Whirling disease of rainbow trout is caused by Myxobolus cerebralis, a
myxozoan parasite possessing a life
cycle well adapted to the natural environments where salmonid fish are
found. Whirling disease was first
described in Europe in 1898 among farmed rainbow trout but recent
occurrences have been devastating
to wild trout in North America. The disease is considered a major threat
to survival of wild rainbow trout
in the intermountain west of the United States. Difficulties in
containing the spread and potentially
eliminating the pathogen are tied to features of a complex life cycle
involving two hosts, the salmonid fish
and an aquatic oligochaete. Details of the morphologic development of
the parasite have been described in
each host but only now are we beginning to appreciate the breadth of
interactions between these
developmental forms and the sequential responses of the host.
<end snipet>

Link for entire journal article:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/htbin-post/Entrez/query_old?uid=9914926&form=6&db=m&Dopt=b

It is also a standard practice to drain trout ponds inflicted with this
disease and let all the organisms in the soil die. They scrape and
dispose of the surface layer to get rid of remaining cysts.

I still use black worms

Jeremy
--



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Jeremy Adams - Corvallis, Oregon  USA
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