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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Auburn, Alabama » Aquatic Animal Health Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #415067
Research Project: Integrated Research to Improve Aquatic Animal Health in Warmwater Aquaculture

Location: Aquatic Animal Health Research

Title: Evaluation of orally delivered Aeromonas hydrophila vaccines in channel catfish

Author
item Wise, Allison
item Shoemaker, Craig
item Beck, Benjamin
item Bader, Troy
item Zhang, Dunhua
item LILES, MARK - Auburn University
item BRUCE, TIM - Auburn University
item BARGER, PRISCILLA - Auburn University

Submitted to: Fish Farming News
Publication Type: Experiment Station
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/15/2024
Publication Date: 5/30/2024
Citation: Wise, A.L., Shoemaker, C.A., Beck, B.H., Bader, T.J., Zhang, D., Liles, M., Bruce, T., Barger, P. 2024. Evaluation of orally delivered Aeromonas hydrophila vaccines in channel catfish. Fish Farming News. 2024(1):13-15.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Alabama catfish farmers raised 96 million pounds of catfish and generated $112 million in revenue in 2023, making the state the second largest catfish producer in the United States. Eighty-three percent of losses were attributed to bacterial diseases. The most prevalent bacterial pathogen associated with losses last year in Alabama (2023) was virulent Aeromonas hydrophila (vAh). Farmers can lose over 50% of a harvest yield in less than a week due to vAh infection, thus the urgency for effective preventative measures. Vaccination is a promising avenue to control and prevent fish disease. One vaccine approach that has proven successful in aquaculture is the use of bacterin vaccines, which are formulated using killed bacteria. In the present study, we tested two orally delivered bacterin vaccines developed by our laboratory (one based on an Alabama vAh isolate and one based on a Mississippi isolate), and evaluated whether an adjuvant could improve protection. At 3 weeks, fish vaccinated with the Alabama derived bacterin without adjuvant exhibited significant protection compared to both adjuvant only and placebo controls in the face of a severe vAh challenge. At 12 weeks (2 weeks post booster vaccination), all vaccinated groups demonstrated significant protection (improved survival as compared to non-vaccinated fish) suggesting cross protection to geographically different vAh isolates. The results also indicated the presence of adjuvant did not enhance the bacterin(s) efficacy. Feeding the bacterin/adjuvant together did not result in less protection, it simply did not enhance protection. The vAh whole cell bacterin appears to be a powerful vaccine regardless of delivery method. These results indicate an oral delivered bacterin vaccine can protect channel catfish against vAh, especially after booster vaccination. The deployment of these safe and effective vaccines could prevent mass mortality due to vAh, reduce antibiotic use and ultimately improve farmer profits.