Project Number: 6402-31630-001-02
Project Type: Specific Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Aug 01, 2002
End Date: May 31, 2007

Objective:
Develop diagnostic tools to detect and monitor diseases in commercially raised channel catfish and determine virulence factors associated with those diseases; Develop fish health management practices to control economically important diseases of channel catfish; Determine factors associated with emerging diseases in pond-raised channel catfish; Use epidemiological methods to investigate new and emerging diseases, and to identify environmental and management factors that influence the onset and severity of disease outbreaks.

Approach:
In the first objective, we will develop real-time PCR assays for microbial pathogens, use molecular approaches to identify genetic variation among pathogen isolates, and identify differential protein expression in pathogens correlated with virulence. For the second objective, we will characterize the impact of acute and chronic trematode infections on catfish production efficiency, determine efficacy of vaccine preparation and exposure methods, and investigate the interaction between feeding practices, diets, innate resistance and vaccine efficacy. For the third objective, we will characterize toxins responsible for visceral toxicosis in catfish, investigate the role of dietary iron in channel catfish anemia, and determine the etiology of streptococcal disease in brood-sized catfish. For the fourth objective, we will develop a systematic data-collection system to identify risk factors associated with catfish diseases.