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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Auburn, Alabama » Aquatic Animal Health Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #356244
Research Project: Pathogen Characterization, Host Immune Response and Development of Strategies to Reduce Losses to Disease in Aquaculture

Location: Aquatic Animal Health Research

Title: Immersion vaccination with an inactivated virulent Aeromonas hydrophila bacterin protects hybrid catfish (Ictalurus punctatus X Ictalurus furcatus) from motile Aeromonas septicemia

Author
item Shoemaker, Craig
item MOHAMMED, HAITHAM - Auburn University
item Bader, Troy
item PEATMAN, ERIC - Auburn University
item Beck, Benjamin

Submitted to: Fish and Shellfish Immunology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/17/2018
Publication Date: 8/18/2018
Citation: Shoemaker, C.A., Mohammed, H., Bader, T.J., Peatman, E., Beck, B.H. 2018. Immersion vaccination with an inactivated virulent Aeromonas hydrophila bacterin protects hybrid catfish (Ictalurus punctatus X Ictalurus furcatus) from motile Aeromonas septicemia. Fish and Shellfish Immunology. 82:239-242. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsi.2018.08.040.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsi.2018.08.040

Interpretive Summary: Outbreaks of motile Aeromonas septicemia (MAS) in West Alabama and East Mississippi have cost U.S. catfish aquaculture an estimated $60-70 million due to death, lost feeding days and costly chemical and antibiotic treatments. Virulent Aeromonas hydrophila (vAh) emerged in 2009 in the U.S. catfish industry. Control of vAh is problematic because fish kills on farms are often rapid and the mortality is typically seen in larger and highly valuable market-sized fish. Little time is available to initiate antibiotic therapy and the withdrawal period after antibiotic feeding requires additional time and economic input prior to harvest. Alternative control strategies such as vaccination are desperately needed at the farm level. Due to the ease of manufacture and, ultimately, the licensing of a killed vaccine for farm use, we chose to evaluate the effectiveness of a simple vAh bacterin (killed vaccine) delivered via immersion (waterborne route) to hybrid catfish (Ictalurus punctatus X Ictalurus furcatus). Results demonstrated protection of hybrid catfish for up-to 7 weeks following vaccination with this simple preparation against two vAh isolates.

Technical Abstract: Outbreaks of motile Aeromonas septicemia (MAS) in West Alabama and East Mississippi have cost U.S. catfish aquaculture an estimated $60-70 million due to death, lost feeding days and costly chemical and antibiotic treatments. Virulent Aeromonas hydrophila (vAh) emerged in 2009 in the U.S. catfish industry. Control of vAh is problematic because mortality events on farms are often acute and the mortality is typically seen in larger and highly valuable market-sized fish. Little time is available to initiate antibiotic therapy and the withdrawal period after antibiotic feeding requires additional time and economic input prior to harvest. Alternative control strategies such as vaccination are desperately needed at the farm level. Due to the ease of manufacture and, ultimately, the licensure of a killed vaccine for farm use, we chose to evaluate the effectiveness of a simple vAh bacterin (killed vaccine) delivered via immersion to hybrid catfish (Ictalurus punctatus X Ictalurus furcatus). Results demonstrated protection of hybrid catfish for up-to 7 weeks following vaccination with this simple preparation against two vAh isolates.