The first authentic report of furunculosis was described as early as 1894 in a brown trout hatchery in Bavaria, Germany and was characterised by furunclelike swellings and ulcerative lesions on infected trout. The causative agent is Aeromonas salmonicida a nonmotile, gramnegative aerobic bacillus, typically 1µm x 2µm. Morphologically the bacterium varies from almost coccoid in freshly isolated cultures to distinct rods in cultures maintained on media. Furunculosis was generally considered a disease of salmonids, but many other species have been shown to be susceptible including eel, bass, perch, carp, cod, turbot and wrasse. However, the description below concentrates on furunculosis of salmonids.

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