An Historical Perspective Of Enteric Septicemia Of Catfish (ESC)     John A. Plumb   Department of Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures, Auburn University, Alabama     Enteric septicemia of catfish (ESC) was initially isolated and identified in 1978. The etiological agent of ESC, Edwardsiella ictaluri, is in the family Enterobacteriaceae. Early isolations were from channel catfish primarily in Alabama and Georgia but using a monoclonal antibody in 1999 E. ictaluri was found in diseased channel catfish that were preserved at Stuttgart, Arkansas in 1970. Edwardsiella ictaluri occurs throughout the channel catfish industry in southeastern United States and in other regions where channel catfish are commercially cultured. States in which the bacterium has been found outside Southeastern US include Arizona, California, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, New Mexico and Virginia. Significant research milestones that mark ESC as the most serious disease of cultured channel catfish in the United States are discussed.  Included are the initial reports of pathogen identification, serological detection, isolation outside of the US, pathogenesis and pathology, the pathogens survival in nature, host immune response, chemotherapy, antigenic and biological homogeneity, development of a selective media, carrier state, vaccination by killed and modified live vaccines, routs of infection, and control by feed management.