Different prevalences of Renibacterium salmoninarum detected by ELISA in Alaskan chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha spawned from freshwater and seawater.
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Soluble antigen of Renibacterium salmoninarum (Rs) was detected by a polyclonal enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) at significantly higher prevalences in adult chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha that matured in freshwater than in the same cohort of fish spawned after maturation in seawater. The cumulative results were consistent during 4 yr of comparison at the Little Port Walter Hatchery on Baranof Island, Alaska, USA. Possible causes for this difference are discussed. Maturation of chinook salmon broodstock in seawater has become a practical strategy at this hatchery to reduce the prevalence of Rs-positive parent fish and the numbers of culled eggs. (+info)
Relative virulence of three isolates of Piscirickettsia salmonis for coho salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch.
(2/711)
Piscirickettsia salmonis was first recognized as the cause of mortality among pen-reared coho salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch in Chile. Since the initial isolation of this intracellular Gram-negative bacterium in 1989, similar organisms have been described from several areas of the world, but the associated outbreaks were not reported to be as serious as those that occurred in Chile. To determine if this was due to differences in virulence among isolates of P. salmonis, we conducted an experiment comparing isolates from Chile, British Columbia, Canada, and Norway (LF-89, ATL-4-91 and NOR-92, respectively). For each of the isolates, 3 replicates of 30 coho salmon were injected intraperitoneally with each of 3 concentrations of the bacterium. Negative control fish were injected with MEM-10. Mortalities were collected daily for 41 d post-injection. Piscirickettsiosis was observed in fish injected with each of the 3 isolates, and for each isolate, cumulative mortality was directly related to the concentration of bacterial cells administered. The LF-89 isolate was the most virulent, with losses reaching 97% in the 3 replicates injected with 10(5.0) TCID50, 91% in the replicates injected with 10(4.0) TCID50, and 57% in the fish injected with 10(3.0) TCID50. The ATL-4-91 isolate caused losses of 92% in the 3 replicates injected with 10(5.0) TCID50, 76% in the fish injected with 10(4.0) TCID50, and 32% in those injected with 10(3.0) TCID50. The NOR-92 isolate was the least virulent, causing 41% mortality in the replicates injected with 10(4.6) TCID50. At 41 d post-injection, 6% of the fish injected with 10(3.6) TCID50 NOR-92 had died. Mortality was only 2% in the fish injected with 10(2.6) TCID50 NOR-92, which was the same as the negative control group. Because the group injected with the highest concentration (10(4.6) TCID50) of NOR-92 was still experiencing mortality at 41 d, it was held for an additional 46 d. At 87 d post-injection, the cumulative mortality in this group had reached 70%. These differences in virulence among the isolates were statistically significant (p < 0.0001), and are important for the management of affected stocks of fish. (+info)
Further observations on the epidemiology and spread of epizootic haematopoietic necrosis virus (EHNV) in farmed rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss in southeastern Australia and a recommended sampling strategy for surveillance.
(3/711)
Epizootic haematopoietic necrosis virus (EHNV) is an iridovirus confined to Australia and is known only from rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss and redfin perch Perca fluviatilis. Outbreaks of disease caused by EHNV in trout populations have invariably been of low severity, affecting only 0+ post-hatchery phase fingerlings < 125 mm in length. To date the virus has been demonstrated in very few live in-contact fish, and anti-EHNV antibodies have not been found in survivors of outbreaks, suggesting low infectivity but high case fatality rates in trout. During an on-going study on an endemically infected farm (Farm A) in the Murrumbidgee River catchment of southeastern New South Wales, EHNV infection was demonstrated in 4 to 6 wk old trout fingerlings in the hatchery as well as in 1+ to 2+ grower fish. During a separate investigation of mortalities in 1+ to 2+ trout on Farm B in the Shoalhaven River catchment in southeastern New South Wales, EHNV infection was demonstrated in both fingerlings and adult fish in association with nocardiosis. A 0.7% prevalence of antibodies against EHNV was detected by ELISA in the serum of grower fish at this time, providing the first evidence that EHNV might not kill all infected trout. EHNV infection on Farm B occurred after transfer of fingerlings from Farm C in the Murrumbidgee river catchment. When investigated, there were no obvious signs of diseases on Farm C. 'Routine' mortalities were collected over 10 d on Farm C and EHNV was detected in 2.1% of 190 fish. Tracing investigations of sources of supply of fingerlings to Farm B also led to investigation of Farm D in Victoria, where the prevalence of anti-EHNV antibodies in 3+ to 4+ fish was 1.3%. The results of this study indicate that EHNV may be found in trout in all age classes, need not be associated with clinically detectable disease in the population, can be transferred with shipments of live fish, can be detected in a small proportion of 'routine' mortalities and may be associated with specific antibodies in a small proportion of older fish. Sampling to detect EHNV for certification purposes should be based on examination of 'routine' mortalities rather than random samples of live fish. Antigen-capture ELISA can be used as a cost effective screening test to detect EHNV on a farm provided that sampling rates conform with statistical principles. (+info)
Molecular characterization of the myxosporean associated with parasitic encephalitis of farmed Atlantic salmon Salmo salar in Ireland.
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During seasonal epizootics of neurologic disease and mass mortality in the summers of 1992, 1993 and 1994 on a sea-farm in Ireland, Atlantic salmon Salmo salar smolts suffered from encephalitis associated with infection by a neurotropic parasite. Based on ultrastructural studies, this neurotropic parasite was identified as an intercellular presporogonic multicellular developmental stage of a histozoic myxosporean, possibly a Myxobolus species. In order to generate sequence data for phylogenetic comparisons to substantiate the present morphological identification of this myxosporean in the absence of detectable sporogony, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), Southern blot hybridization, dideoxynucleotide chain-termination DNA sequencing, and in situ hybridization (ISH) were used in concert to characterize segments of the small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) gene. Oligonucleotide primers were created from sequences of the SSU rRNA gene of M. cerebralis and were employed in PCR experiments using DNA extracted from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue sections of brains from Atlantic salmon smolts in which the myxosporean had been detected by light microscopy. Five segments of the SSU rRNA gene of the myxosporean, ranging in length from 187 to 287 base pairs, were amplified, detected by hybridization with sequence-specific probes, and sequenced. Consensus sequences from these segments were aligned to create a partial sequence of the SSU rRNA gene of the myxosporean. Assessments of sequence identity were made between this partial sequence and sequences of SSU rRNA genes from 7 myxosporeans, including Ceratomyxa shasta, Henneguya doori, M. arcticus, M. cerebralis, M. insidiosus, M. neurobius, and M. squamalis. The partial SSU rRNA gene sequence from the myxosporean had more sequence identity with SSU rRNA gene sequences from neurotropic and myotropic species of Myxobolus than to those from epitheliotropic species of Myxobolus or Henneguya, or the enterotropic species of Ceratomyxa, and was identical to regions of the SSU rRNA gene of M. cerebralis. Digoxigenin-labeled oligonucleotide DNA probes complementary to multiple segments of the SSU rRNA gene of M. cerebralis hybridized with DNA of the parasite in histologic sections of brain in ISH experiments, demonstrating definitively that the segments of genome amplified were from the organisms identified by histology and ultrastructural analysis. Based on sequence data derived entirely from genetic material of extrasporogonic stages, the SSU rDNA sequence identity discovered in this study supports the hypothesis that the myxosporean associated with encephalitis of farmed Atlantic salmon smolts is a neurotropic species of the genus Myxobolus, with sequences identical to those of M. cerebralis. (+info)
Aspects of the epizootiology of pancreas disease in farmed Atlantic salmon Salmo salar in Ireland.
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A computerised database containing information on over 17.8 million salmon contained within 49 separate marine populations was used to study the epidemiology of pancreas disease (PD) in Ireland. Of the 43 recorded PD outbreaks, 57% occurred in the 3 mo period August to October inclusive (17 to 32 wk post-transfer). Analysis of variance of mortality rates during PD outbreaks occurring on 6 marine sites over a 5 yr period showed that mortality rates vary significantly between sites (p < 0.001) but not between years over this time period. The mortality rate during PD outbreaks ranged from 0.1 to 63%. Mortality rates were significantly higher when PD outbreaks occurred earlier in the year (y = -1.28x + 59, SE of b 0.33). The mean length of a PD outbreak was 112 d (SE = 7.7, n = 37). There was no correlation between PD mortality rate and smolt input weight, initial stocking density and transfer mortality. (+info)
Streptococcus iniae, a bacterial infection in barramundi Lates calcarifer.
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The cause of ongoing mortality in barramundi Lates calcarifer (Bloch) in seawater culture was identified as Streptococcus iniae by biochemical and physiological tests. This is the first published record of this bacterial species in Australia and the first confirmed report of S. iniae causing mortality in barramundi. The bacterium was highly pathogenic for barramundi when challenged by bath exposure. The pathogen was found to have a LD50 of 2.5 x 10(5) and 3.2 x 10(4) colony-forming units at 48 h and 10 d respectively. Experimental challenge of barramundi resulted in high levels of mortality (> 40%) within a 48 h period. Ten days after the challenge, S. iniae could not be isolated from kidney, spleen, liver or eye of surviving fish. However, the organism was easily isolated from the brain of both moribund and healthy fish, indicating that barramundi can carry the bacterium asymptomatically. (+info)
Ichthyophthiriasis in carp Cyprinus carpio: infectivity of trophonts prematurely exiting both the immune and non-immune host.
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Ichthyophthirius multifiliis exposed to naturally immunised carp established short-term infections, the majority of parasites actively emerging within 2 h of entering the epidermis. A small, but significant, number of these expelled parasites were shown to retain theront-like properties with the capacity to directly re-invade a further fish host. Infectivity fell rapidly with time in the host and was comparable to that of trophonts of a similar age artificially induced to emerge from non-immune hosts with the aid of MEM (minimal essential medium). Trophonts recovered with MEM from immune carp 2 to 8 h post infection rarely established infections upon exposure to susceptible new hosts and no infections resulted from older trophonts recovered after 8 to 24 h exposure; older trophonts, however, represented only a small percentage of the original parasite population. A low level of infectivity was recorded in trophonts collected with the aid of MEM from non-immune carp after up to 24 h of infection. The results are discussed in relation to theront transformation and evasion of the host immune response. (+info)
Molecular evidence that the proliferative kidney disease organism unknown (PKX) is a myxosporean.
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The proliferative kidney organism unknown (PKX), a serious salmonid fish pathogen, is considered to be a myxosporean on the basis of ultrastructural studies, but its real taxonomic position has never been confirmed. In order to ascertain its position, genomic DNA was extracted from PKX and small subunit (SSU) ribosomal DNA was amplified by PCR, cloned and sequenced. A phylogenetical analysis on SSU rDNA from 76 or 128 eucaryotic species was carried out. Whatever the tree reconstruction methods used, PKX was found to be a sister group of the Myxozoa phylum, providing the first molecular evidence for its membership in this phylum. (+info)