Bacterial diseases of farmed fish

An overview of bacterial diseases in farmed fish is presented, including bacterial species involved, predisposing factors, routes of infection, modes of transmission, and control. INRA studies on the main bacterial pathogen of salmonid fish worldwide, Flavobacterium psychrophilum, are also presented. Once techniques of culture, identification, and molecular typing of isolates were defined, a reproducible model of experimental infection was developed using the rainbow trout. Molecular studies improved considerably the taxonomy and phylogeny of the whole Flavobacteriaceae family. The full genome of a F psychrophilum strain has recently been sequenced. Its analysis has already identified many genes involved in the pathogen's lifestyle, especially in its virulence towards the host.