Search results for "Fish diseases"
showing 10 items of 232 documents
Saprophytism of a fish pathogen as a transmission strategy
2009
Fish farming creates conditions where disease transmission is enhanced and antibiotic treatments are commonly used to cure bacterial diseases to prevent severe losses due to infections. Ability to persist in such an environment has been suggested to lead to the evolution of high virulence. Columnaris disease caused by Flavobacterium columnare is a growing problem in freshwater fish farming. Transmission of the disease is poorly known, and survival of F. columnare in the rearing environment has not been studied. This paper addresses both transmission of columnaris disease and survival strategy of F. columnare. Saprophytic activity of F. columnare was studied by infecting rainbow trout finger…
Eye fluke infection and lens size reduction in fish: a quantitative analysis.
2008
Parasites have a variety of harmful effects on their hosts, some of which may be overlapping or complementary and thus easily overlooked but which are still important for the overall severity of infection. We investigated the effect of Diplostomum sp. eye fluke infection on the size of the eye lens in a range of wild and farmed fish species and those exposed to controlled parasite infection. We found that asymmetry in intensity of infection between the right and left lens of an individual fish affected lens size such that the lens with the higher intensity of infection was smaller. Interestingly, however, this was observed only in 3 of the 10 species studied (whitefish, smelt and sea trout)…
In vitro cytokine profile revealed differences from dorsal and ventral skin susceptibility to pathogen-probiotic interaction in gilthead seabream
2016
Skin is the first barrier of defense on fish, which is crucial to protection against different stressors, including pathogens. Skin samples obtained from dorsal and ventral part of Sparus aurata specimens were incubated with Photobacterium damselae subsp. piscicida (a pathogen for this fish species), with Shewanella putrefaciens Pdp11 (a probiotic bacteria isolated from healthy gilthead seabream skin) or with both bacteria. The gene expression profile of nine cytokines (il1b, tnfa, il6, il7, il8, il15, il18, il10 and tgfb) was studied by qPCR in all the skin samples. The present findings revealed different patterns of cytokine profile in dorsal and ventral skin of gilthead seabream, which c…
Aggregation ofArgulus coregoni(Crustacea: Branchiura) on rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss): a consequence of host susceptibility or exposure?
2005
By sampling individual rainbow trout,Oncorhynchus mykiss, at a fish farm we showed thatArgulus coregoniwere aggregated within their host population. The relative significance of susceptibility and exposure generating the observed pattern was tested using experimental infections. We examined, whether rainbow trout developed protective resistance mechanisms against the louse following a challenge infection and if there was variation between individual trout in their susceptibility toA. coregonimetanauplii. Fish were exposed to 20A. coregonifor 5, 25, 50, 85 or 120 min and the numbers attaching recorded. Three weeks later, developing argulids were removed and the experiment repeated with a sta…
Priming of host resistance to protect cultured rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss against eye flukes and parasite-induced cataracts
2010
In the present study, immunologically naive rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss were experimentally exposed to a low-level Diplostomum spathaceum (Trematoda) infection to stimulate acquired resistance and, along with unexposed controls, were subsequently exposed to natural infection for 8 weeks. The priming of the host resistance, designed to simulate a procedure applicable in aquaculture, decreased the number of establishing parasites compared to untreated controls by the end of the experiment. This effect was slow and did not protect the fish against the parasite-induced cataracts. The results suggest that this type of priming of host resistance is probably inefficient in preventing the del…
The Influence of Infective Dose on the Virulence of a Generalist Pathogen in Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and Zebra Fish (Danio rerio)
2015
Pathogen density and genetic diversity fluctuate in the outside-host environment during and between epidemics, affecting disease emergence and the severity and probability of infections. Although the importance of these factors for pathogen virulence and infection probability has been acknowledged, their interactive effects are not well understood. We studied how an infective dose in an environmentally transmitted opportunistic fish pathogen, Flavobacterium columnare, affects its virulence both in rainbow trout, which are frequently infected at fish farms, and in zebra fish, a host that is not naturally infected by F. columnare. We used previously isolated strains of confirmed high and low …
Intensive fish farming and the evolution of pathogen virulence: the case of columnaris disease in Finland.
2009
Ecological changes affect pathogen epidemiology and evolution and may trigger the emergence of novel diseases. Aquaculture radically alters the ecology of fish and their pathogens. Here we show an increase in the occurrence of the bacterial fish disease Flavobacterium columnare in salmon fingerlings at a fish farm in northern Finland over 23 years. We hypothesize that this emergence was owing to evolutionary changes in bacterial virulence. We base this argument on several observations. First, the emergence was associated with increased severity of symptoms. Second, F. columnare strains vary in virulence, with more lethal strains inducing more severe symptoms prior to death. Third, more vir…
Seasonal dynamics of egg laying and egg-laying strategy of the ectoparasite Argulus coregoni (Crustacea: Branchiura).
2004
Substrate preferences, spatial aggregation patterns and seasonal dynamics in the egg laying of ectoparasiticArgulus coregoniwere studied at a commercial fish farm in Finland. Pilot experiments showed thatA. coregonifemales selected specific types of substrates for egg laying. Significantly moreA. coregonieggs were laid on dark substrates than on light ones suggesting the use of visual cues. Therefore, egg-laying plates of dark colour were constructed for further experiments. MostA. coregonieggs were deposited in locations in shadow and in the deepest water in a 2 m deep farming canal. Relatively more eggs were laid on bottom stones situated near each egg-laying trap than on artificial egg-l…
Treatment of columnaris disease of rainbow trout: low pH and salt as possible tools?
2005
The impact of salt and low pH on columnaris disease of fish was studied. Survival of Flavobacterium columnare after exposure to either 4% NaCl (pH 7.2) or pH 5.0, pH 4.86 or pH 4.6 for 15 min or 1 h was studied in vitro. All conditions significantly reduced the numbers of viable bacterial cells. The effects of salt (4 and 2%) and acidic baths (pH 4.6) were studied in 2 experiments in vivo with rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss infected with F. columnare. Both salt and acidic baths failed to prevent fish mortality; the overall mortality reached 100% in all groups. However, according to survival analysis, the mortality rate was lower in fish treated with 4% salt baths compared to a control gr…
Outside-host growth of pathogens attenuates epidemiological outbreaks.
2012
Opportunist saprotrophic pathogens differ from obligatory pathogens due to their capability in host-independent growth in environmental reservoirs. Thus, the outside-host environment potentially influences host-pathogen dynamics. Despite the socio-economical importance of these pathogens, theory on their dynamics is practically missing. We analyzed a novel epidemiological model that couples outside-host density-dependent growth to host-pathogen dynamics. Parameterization was based on columnaris disease, a major hazard in fresh water fish farms caused by saprotrophic Flavobacterium columnare. Stability analysis and numerical simulations revealed that the outside-host growth maintains high pr…