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J.S. Gutsell

Publications and source records attributed to J.S. Gutsell.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS1950

Various sulfonamide treatments of furunculosis in brook trout, Salvelinus fontinalis

Sulfamerazine, sulfamethazine, sulfathiazole, and sulfamerazine alternated at 4‐day intervals with sulfathiazole, were compared in the treatment of furunculosis among yearling and fingerling brook trout at the Leetown Station of the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Kearneysville, West Virginia, in 1947. The daily dosage rates were: for sulfamerazine and sulfamethazine, 6 grams per 100 pounds of fish (13.2 grams per 100 kilograms); for sulfathiazole, 12 grams per 100 pounds. The drugs were mixed thoroughly with the food. The courses of the epizootics were very different in the two age groups. With yearlings, mortalities were as follows: controls, 100 percent; sulfathiazole, 75 percent; sulfamethazine, 62 percent; sulfamerazine‐sulfathiazole, 43 percent; sulfamerazine, 29 percent. With fingerlings, treatment was initiated sooner after the onset of the disease. Although mortality was finally heavy in the fingerling control, sulfonamide therapy was very much more effective and losses correspondingly less severe. Mortalities were as follows: controls, 90 percent; sulfathiazole, 11 percent; sulfamerazine, 8 percent; sulfamerazine‐sulfathiazole, 6 percent; sulfamethazine, 5 percent. Sulfathiazole was markedly inferior to sulfamerazine. Sulfamethazine showed sufficient promise to warrant further trial. Sulfamerazine still seems the best for an acute infection and the drug most suitable for the treatment of furunculosis in brook trout. Important was the revelation of the extreme difference in the courses of the epizootics and the apparent correlation of effectiveness of treatment with the type of epizootic. However, prompt initiation of treatment may largely explain the great effectiveness of the various drugs with the fingerlings.

West Virginia↗
USGS1949

Dosage of sulfamerazine in the treatment of furunculosis in brook trout, Salvelinus fontinalis

To determine the most effective dosage of sulfamerazine in the treatment of furunculosis in brook trout, two experiments were run. In the first experiment, yearlings were used and the daily dosage rates were 4, 8, and 12 grams of sulfamerazine per 100 pounds of fish. In the lots treated with sulfamerazine, mortality was brought under control within 15 days and was less than a quarter as high as in the controls. Results with the 4‐gram rate were nearly as good as with the higher rates. Treatment was continued for 10 days or more after mortality dropped to zero, and recurrences were few. A large number of the dead were checked bacteriologically for furunculosis. In the second experiment fingerlings in an early stage of a furunculosis epizootic were used and the daily dosage rates were 2, 4 and 6 grams per 100 pounds of fish. Losses in the controls were extremely heavy, with only 6‐percent survival. Losses were heavy in all lots, but in those treated at the 4‐gram and 6‐gram rates, survival was 10 times as high as in the controls. Mortality declined sooner with the 6‐gram than with the 4‐gram rate, and recurrence was almost eliminated by treatment, at the higher rate, for 10 days after mortality dropped to zero. Discontinuance of treatment as late as 4 days after the discontinuance of mortality was followed by resumption of mortality at a considerable rate. In the treated lots, late dead were small thin fish which evidently had received little food and drug. Dead fish were “spot‐checked” for furunculosis. The recommended daily dosage rate is 6 grams per 100 pounds of fish, to be continued for 10 days after mortality stops and for a total of at least 3 weeks. Other recommendations include: the early elimination of undersized fish; the prompt removal of dead and dying fish; the maintenance of clean troughs and pools; and strict observation of all sanitary measures practiced in the control of infectious diseases.

Transactions of the American Fisheries Society↗
USGS1949

Response of brook, rainbow, and brown trout to various dosages of sulfamerazine

During experiments in 1945 and 1946 in which sulfamerazine in the food was found to be effective in the treatment of furunculosis in brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis), it was observed that fish grew faster on untreated food and that when the dosage rate was heavy they did not eat all the food and showed a dislike for it. To determine the effect of sulfamerazine treatment on growth and to learn whether the drug injures various trout species, brook trout and rainbow trout (Salmo gairdnerii) were tested in 1946 and brown trout (Salmo trutta) in 1947. The daily dosage rates chosen were 0, 5, 10, and 15 grams of the drug per 100 pounds of fish (0, 11, 22, 33 grams per 100 kilograms). It was observed from this experiment that: (1) sulfamerazine was not lethal; (2) the drug had no apparent injurious effect; (3) retardation of growth was caused by reduced consumption of food containing the drug; (4) there was great variation among the three species of trout in their response to sulfamerazine, e.g., the growth of rainbow trout was not affected, growth of brook trout was reduced by heavier dosage rates, and growth of brown trout was stopped by 5‐gram or greater dosage rates; (5) hemoglobin and number of erythrocytes increased in brown trout treated with sulfamerazine in the food; (6) a very small dosage, begun in time, appears to be sufficient to control furunculosis in brown trout.

Transactions of the American Fisheries Society↗
USGS1948

The value of certain drugs, especially sulfa drugs, in the treatment of furunculosis in brook trout, Salvelinus fontinalis

Furunculosis of salmonoid fishes is a dread epizootic disease caused by a general infection by Bacterium salmonicida. In this experiment, treatment was tried with sulfonamides and another drug, “furacin” or “2–20–99” (new drug). The four treatments first used were: (1) sulfamerazine, (2) sulfathiazole, and (3) furacin, each administered by being mixed with the food; and (4) furacin added to the water of the troughs. For assignment of treatments, the troughs containing fingerling brook trout, approximately 8 months old and running 30 to the pound, were grouped in four blocks of five troughs–three blocks of fingerlings with furunculosis, and one block of fingerlings of similar age and size but free from this disease. In each block, one trough received no medication. The various treatments were assigned to troughs by random selection. The block of healthy fish was to test for possible serious ill effects from any of the treatments, and was located some distance from the infected fish. Treatments were begun August 30, 1945, and those involving sulfamerazine and sulfathiazole were continued through 25 days. The furacin treatments, less promising than the sulfonamide treatments, were replaced by sulfanilamide and sulfadiazine, each in the food, on the sixteenth day. Furacin in the water was not beneficial but furacin in the food had some helpful effect. Results with sulfanilamide and sulfadiazine were not encouraging. Sulfathiazole seems to have been more beneficial than furacin, but decidedly less effective than sulfamerazine. The improvement with sulfamerazine was impressive. Mortality dropped rapidly within a few days, generally was light after a week, and within 2 weeks almost completely stopped. Through 25 days, the loss was 17 percent, as compared with 50 percent among the infected lots not receiving medication. The data indicate that 8 grams of sulfamerazine per day per 100 pounds of fish is sufficient, and that a considerably lower dose is at least beneficial. Until further information is available, 8 grams of sulfamerazine per day per 100 pounds of fish, to be continued for at least 6 days after mortality stops, is recommended.

Transactions of the American Fisheries Society↗