Project Number: 6420-32000-019-05
Project Type: Nonfunded Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Dec 01, 2004
End Date: Nov 30, 2009

Objective:
The objective of this cooperative research project is to allow exchanges of scientific personnel, to plan and implement collaborative research in fish health. The objective of the collaborative research under this agreement is the testing of vaccines and characterizing the mechanisms of the immune responses to vaccination that may be useful for the prevention of diseases of tilapia and other species of warm water cultured fish. Another objective is to test and evaluate methods for isolation and identification of pathogens of warm water cultured fish using multi-disciplinary approaches that included immunological, molecular, biological and semi-automated identification methods.

Approach:
Bacterial pathogen vaccines will be evaluated under field conditions to determine the efficacy and safety of the vaccines. ARS has developed and published methods for detection of immune response to bacterial pathogens that will be used in evaluation of immune response to vaccination. ARS has developed and published methods for development of vaccines for fish pathogens of warm water fish and will aid in the development of vaccines for pathogens of mutual interest. ARS has developed and published methods for detection and identification of fish pathogens using multi-disciplinary and semi-automated identification methods that will be useful to detect and diagnose pathogens of cultured warm water fish.