Word: myxobolus
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Dates: during 1996-1996
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This much is known: the disease is carried by a microscopic protozoan called Myxobolus cerebralis, whose spores are released when infected fish die. These spores are not in themselves harmful to trout. It is only after they have been ingested by inch-long Tubifex worms in the mud that the parasites become dangerous. In the worm's gut, the protozoan takes a new form: grappling-hook-shaped spore cases that when released from the worm, can invade the gills and skin of tiny rainbow fry. The infection eats away at the cartilage of young trout, leaving them deformed, discolored...
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