Evaluation of a 4-h static copper sulphate treatment against experimental infection of Flavobacterium columnare in channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus)

The efficacy of copper sulphate (CuSO4) against the early stages of an experimental acute infection of Flavobacterium columnare in channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) was evaluated. Fish were challenged, by waterborne exposure to F. columnare in an ultra-low flow-through water delivery system, and treated with CuSO4 at 4.2 and 2.1 mg L-1 at 5.5 h post challenge for 4 h. Bacterial challenged non-treated fish acted as a positive control and non-challenged non-treated fish acted as a negative control. Fish challenged with F. columnare and treated with CuSO4 at 4.2 and 2.1 mg L-1 post challenge had mortalities of 6.4% and 18.3%, respectively, compared with the positive control, which had 90.2% mortality. The mortality of challenged fish treated with CuSO4 at 4.2 and 2.1 mg L-1 was significantly different from the positive control. There was no significant difference between the mortalities of the 4.2 and 2.1 mg L-1 treatments. The results suggest that CuSO4 has clear therapeutic value against columnaris infections.