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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Auburn, Alabama » Aquatic Animal Health Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #214030
Title: Immersion vaccination of tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) using a Streptococcus iniae vaccine

Author
item Klesius, Phillip
item Shoemaker, Craig
item Evans, Joyce

Submitted to: Aquaculture America Conference
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/6/2007
Publication Date: 2/9/2008
Citation: Klesius, P.H., Shoemaker, C.A., Evans, J.J. 2008. Immersion vaccination of tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) using a Streptococcus iniae vaccine. Aquaculture America Conference 2008. Ferbruary 9-12, 2008. Lake Buena Vista, Florida. pg. 183.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The objective of this investigation was to assess immersion Streptococcus iniae vaccination of newly hatched and sex reversed Nile tilapia fry against S. iniae. Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus; 0.01 g wet weight; 160,000 fish/1500 L) were immunized by bath immersion using a 1/500 dilution of modified S. iniae vaccine for 2 min with aeration at a Florida tilapia hatchery. The fish were sex reversed with oral administration of 17-beta-methyltestosterone (MT) in their starter feed for 28 d and then shipped (0.3-0.4 g wet weight) to a Minnesota tilapia producer. The male fish (about 90%) were immersion boostered with the vaccine using a 1/500 dilution for 2 min at 35 d post vaccination. The fish (15 g) were again boostered 34 d later. After 7 d post secondary booster, 150 fish (23 g) were shipped to the USDA laboratory in Alabama and stocked into 57 L aquaria. No mortality was reported during the immunizations and transport. After 7 d acclimation, 20 immunized fish were cohabitated with 20 TSB-imunized calcein-marked fish in 4 separate 57 L aquarium (Klesius et al. 2006. Fish and Shellfish Immunol. 20:20-28) and challenged with 1 x 10 to the sixth power or 1 x 10 to the seventh power CFU S. iniae/fish in duplicate aquaria. The S. iniae vaccine relative percent survival (RPS) 14 d post challenge was 68.2 and 47.4 when challenged with 1 x 10 to the sixth power CFU/fish and 78.5 and 91.7 when challenged with 1 x 10 to the seventh power CFU/fish. Streptococcus iniae was cultured from 34 of 50% immunized fish sampled from the farm. Aeromonas hydrophila was obtained from 40% of the 50 sampled fish. No bacteria were cultured from 18% of the fish. The farm reported healthy and actively feeding fish with greatly reduced mortality from S. iniae. A specific antibody response was measured following vaccinations and appeared to be directly related to the protective immune response against S. iniae. The results indicate that immersion immunization using diluted S. iniae vaccine in newly hatched tilapia followed by sex reversal and immersion boosters was efficacious against S. iniae.