Causative Agent Of Bacterial Kidney Disease Research Articles

A 2-stage hierarchical interrupted time-series analysis to quantify the long-term effect of subclinical bacterial kidney disease on performance of farmed Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.)

Bacterial Kidney Disease (BKD) is an economically significant disease in salmonid aquaculture and commonly requires antibiotic treatments to reduce its impact. Once a pen of fish is diagnosed with BKD, fish are considered chronically infected, potentially until harvest. Although there appears to be little or no evidence to support it, it is often assumed that subclinical infections affect productivity over the long term. We used a 2-stage hierarchical interrupted time series (ITS) analysis in an attempt to quantify the effect of subclinical BKD on mortality, growth, and food conversion ratio (FCR) of Atlantic salmon cultured in marine farms in Atlantic Canada. For all three outcomes, BKD had for some site cycles a positive effect, and for others a negative effect. Overall, the effect of BKD on mortality and growth could not be detected (effect -0.08 ((95% ci: -0.51, 0.35) and 0.00 (-0.02, 0.02)), while a very small effect showing an increase in FCR was detected (0.07 (-0.01, 0.15)). We hypothesized that minimal interference with fish performance may be compatible with the ecology of Renibacterium salmoninarum, the causative agent of BKD. For this organism, vertical transmission is a primary mode of propagation in low-density host populations as found in the wild. Since farms are always adapting and optimizing their farm management of BKD, these constant adjustments may also have negated our ability to detect the effect of many factors contributing to BKD productivity impacts. Hierarchical ITS analysis is considered an appropriate methodology to investigate the complex relationships with productivity measures over time under farming conditions. In the highly innovative salmon aquaculture industry, health records generating data available for time-series analysis is expected to become more accurate and abundant in the future, providing more opportunities for time-series regression studies.

Case definition for clinical and subclinical bacterial kidney disease (BKD) in Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar L.) in New Brunswick, Canada.

Bacterial kidney disease (BKD) is considered an important cause of loss in salmon aquaculture in Atlantic Canada. Causative agent of BKD is the Gram-positive bacteria Renibacterium salmoninarum. Infected salmon are often asymptomatic (subclinical infection), and the disease is considered chronic. One of the challenges in quantifying information from farm production and health records is the application of a standardized case definition. Case definitions for farm-level and cage-level clinical and subclinical BKD were developed using retrospective longitudinal data from aquaculture practices in New Brunswick, Canada, combining (i) industry records of weekly production data including mortalities, (ii) field observations for BKD using reports of veterinarians and/or fish health technicians, (iii) diagnostic submissions and test results and (iv) treatments used to control BKD. Case definitions were evaluated using veterinarians' expert judgements as reference standard. Eighty-nine and 66% of sites and fish groups, respectively, were associated with BKD at least once. For BKD present (subclinical or clinical), sensitivity and specificity of the case definition were 75-100% varying between event, fish group, site cycle and level (site pen). For clinical BKD, sensitivities were 29-64% and specificities 91-100%. Industry data can be used to develop sensitive case definitions.

Epidemiological investigation of Renibacterium salmoninarum in three Oncorhynchus spp. in Michigan from 2001 to 2010

Bacterial kidney disease (BKD) has caused mortalities and chronic infections in wild and farm-raised salmonids throughout the world. In the Laurentian Great Lakes of North America, BKD was associated with several large-scale mortality events of Oncorhynchus spp. throughout the 1980s and 1990s. In response to these mortality events, the state of Michigan implemented several enhanced biosecurity measures to limit the occurrence of BKD in state-operated hatcheries and gamete-collection weirs. The objectives of this study were to assess if infection levels (prevalence and intensity) of Renibacterium salmoninarum, the causative agent of BKD, have changed in broodstock and pre-stocking fingerlings of three feral Oncorhynchus spp. (Chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha), coho salmon (O. kisutch), and steelhead (O. mykiss)) over a decade, following the implementation of the enhanced biosecurity measures. Between 2001 and 2010, a total of 3,530 broodstock salmonids collected from lakes Huron and Michigan tributaries during spawning runs and 4,294 propagated pre-stocking salmonid fingerlings collected from three state of Michigan fish hatcheries were tested for the presence of R. salmoninarum antigens using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Substantial declines in the overall prevalence of the bacterium were detected in each of the examined broodstocks. Most propagated pre-stocking fingerlings also exhibited substantial declines in R. salmoninarum prevalence. Prevalence was typically higher in Chinook salmon from Lake Michigan than from Lake Huron; prevalence was also generally higher in the Hinchenbrooke strain of coho salmon than in the Michigan-adapted strain. For most strains and stocks examined, intensity of R. salmoninarum infection was found to have declined. Although there were declines in the potential for shedding the bacteria for both male and female Chinook and coho salmon, overall shedding rates were generally low (<15%) except for Hinchenbrooke coho salmon strain, which had shedding prevalences in excess of 50% at the beginning of the study. This study provides evidence that enhanced biosecurity measures at culture facilities and collection sites are capable of severely curtailing disease infection in wild populations even at the scale of Lake Michigan fisheries.

Nearshore ecosystem predictors of a bacterial infection in juvenile Chinook salmon

Disease epidemiology requires information about ecological and environmental condi- tions to identify factors that can influence disease progression. Bacterial kidney disease (BKD) is an endemic disease among Pacific Northwest salmonids that causes significant morbidity and mortality in artificially propagated stocks, but risk factors for infection among free-living salmon are unknown. We evaluated infection by the causative agent of BKD, Renibacterium salmoninarum, in 1752 fish across 52 sampling sites monthly from May to November 2003 as a component of a broader study of neritic habitat use in Puget Sound by juvenile Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha. Infection intensity was ≤10 cells per slide for 77% of the fish. Correlations between the density of Chinook salmon with infection prevalence and with infection intensity were observed across multiple spatial scales. Capture location was a stronger predictor of infection than fish origin (based on coded wire tags) or genetic stock. Influential risk factors by logistic regression were temperature, densities of marked and unmarked Chinook salmon, and density of river lamprey Lampetra ayresis. Renibac- terium salmoninarum were found in gut contents and kidney of river lamprey, suggesting this species may be a transmission vector. The low infection intensity, lack of an effect of fish origin, effect of capture bay, and strong associations with Chinook salmon density are consistent with horizontal transmission of R. salmoninarum during the juvenile neritic phase, posing a potential for infectious interaction between sympatric hatchery and wild fish.

Relationship between antigen concentration and bacterial load in Pacific salmon with bacterial kidney disease.

Using data collected to test spawning female Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch and O. tshawytscha for the presence and severity of bacterial kidney disease (BKD), a mathematical model of the relationship between bacterial load and antigen concentration in tissues and ovarian fluid is developed. Renibacterium salmoninarum, the causative agent of BKD, secretes large amounts of a 57 kDa protein ('p57'), its major soluble antigen, which eventually breaks down or is otherwise removed from free circulation. Bacterial load and soluble antigen concentration in tissues are strong indicators of fish health, while in ovarian fluid they are predictors of the success of offspring. Model results indicate either an exponentially increasing antigen removal rate or an exponentially decreasing per-bacterium antigen secretion rate with increasing antigen concentration. Possible mechanisms underlying the observed relationship include a nonlinear increasing autolytic rate of the 'p57' antigen and a bacterium-antigen interaction threshold which prevents bacterial antigen secretion.

Evidence that Coded-Wire-Tagging Procedures Can Enhance Transmission ofRenibacterium salmoninarumin Chinook Salmon

Abstract Binary coded wire tags (CWTs) are used extensively for identification and management of anadromous salmonid populations. A study of bacterial kidney disease (BKD) in two brood year groups of hatchery-reared spring chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha provided strong evidence that horizontal transmission of Renibacterium salmoninarum, the causative agent of BKD, might be enhanced by CWT-marking procedures. About 4 months after CWTs were implanted in the snouts of juvenile fish, 14–16 different tissues were sampled from each of 60 fish per brood year group for histological analysis. Of the fish that were positive for R. salmoninarum by histological examination, 41% (7 of 17) of the 1988 brood year fish and 24% (10 of 42) of the 1989 brood year fish had BKD lesions confined to the head near the site of tag implantation. These lesions often resulted in the destruction of tissues of one or both olfactory organs. No focal snout infections were observed in fish that had not been marked with CWTs. Fur...

Prevalence ofRenibacterium salmoninarumamong DownstreamMigrating Salmonids in the Columbia River

Abstract Bacterial kidney disease (BKD) is an important contributor to mortality of salmonids in hatcheries in the Columbia River basin. However, the impact of BKD on the survival of downstream migrants is difficult to determine because there is little information on the disease-related mortality among these fish. In this study, the impact of BKD on juvenile salmonids was examined by determining the percentage of downriver migrants infected with Renibacterium salmoninarum (the causative agent of BKD) and evaluating the effects of salt water on the progress of the disease. During the 2 years of this study, approximately 20% of the three species of migrating hatchery and wild salmonids (Oncorhynchus spp.) collected were infected with R. salmoninarum. Mortality caused by BKD increased when fish were held in salt water.

Genetic Variation in Resistance to Bacterial Kidney Disease within and between Two Strains of Coho Salmon from British Columbia

Genetic variation in resistance to bacterial kidney disease (BKD) was investigated between and within the Robertson Creek and Kitimat River strains of coho salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch from British Columbia. For each strain, juvenile fish from 20 pairs of paternal half-sib families were inoculated with Renibacterium salmoninarum, the causative agent of BKD. Mortality due to BKD began 26 d after inoculation, and had reached a level of 68% when the experiment was terminated on day 113. Survival was greater (P = 0.08) and time to death (in days) was longer (P < 0.05) among juvenile coho salmon from the Kitimat River strain than among those from the Robertson Creek strain. The estimated sire component of survival heritability, based on binomial data, was 0.53 ± 0.16 (mean ± SE), which became 0.90 ± 0.26 when survival was considered to be a threshold trait. The sire component estimate of heritability of time to death was 0.26 ± 0.10. There was no consistent genetic correlation between fish weight and survival time after inoculation. The results indicated that increased BKD resistance could be achieved in domesticated coho salmon brood stocks both by judicious choice of the wild progenitor strain and by subsequent selective breeding.