December 14, 2006

New catfish vaccines improve fish health, says USDA

New vaccination processes could improve the efficiency and effectiveness of catfish vaccines, according to a study by USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS).

Diseases like enteric septicaemia and columnaris cost the US catfish industry an estimated US$50-70 million per year.

ARS molecular biologist Craig Shoemaker, microbiologist Phillip Klesius and aquatic pathologist Joyce Evans invented two vaccines to immunise catfish against these diseases. The vaccines were patented and licensed to international vaccine manufacturer Intervet for distribution.

Another research would now demonstrate how the vaccines should be administered for maximum influence.

Both vaccines could be given to channel catfish eggs about 24-48 hours before hatching, a recent study found. This suggests they could be vaccinated during the "eyed-egg stage," when they were still in the hatchery--long before being exposed to pond pathogens.

The current system of vaccination requires the fish to be administered the vaccine when they are 10 days old.

The two vaccines could be administered simultaneously, making the treatment more efficient, according to study. This is beneficial, as both pathogens frequently appear in the same ponds.

Effective vaccines improve fish health and help them grow faster than non-vaccinated fish, which translates to higher profits for farmers.