TWENTY-FOURTH ANNUAL EASTERN FISH HEALTH WORKSHOP Royal Pavilion Resort, Atlantic Beach, NC MARCH 9-11, 1999 Aquaculture Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing: Working Drafts Of Standardized Protocols Thomas A. Bell U.S. Food & Drug Administration, Center for Veterinary Medicine, Office of New Animal Drug Evaluation (HFV-130), 7500 Standish Place, Rockville, MD 20855 A set of working draft antimicrobial susceptibility protocols was generated in a November 1998 workshop. The "MIC Methodologies in Aquaculture" workshop was held in Weymouth, England at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry's Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science. The workshop was sponsored by the European Commission, Directorate General XIV. Approximately 25 participants, from France, Ireland, England, Spain, Greece, Denmark, Scotland, Germany, Norway, Italy, Belgium, Canada and the USA (hereafter referred to, collectively, as the EU workgroup) were involved in the four day session. The EU workgroup assembled four protocols, one each for disc diffusion, agar dilution, and broth dilution procedures (both micro and macrodilution). Each included standardized procedures for the following components (as applicable): media preparation, inoculum, diffusion discs, incubation, plate reading, quality control, rejection criteria, stock antimicrobial stock solutions, microbe control standards, and fastidious organism modifications. The participants relied on the U.S. National Committee on Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS) veterinary documents; as well as related standards from France, England, Germany and Scandinavia to assemble the aquaculture standardized protocols. The near-term intent of the EU workgroup is to extensively test the protocols at the participants' labs (and any other labs which will agree to test the protocols) and reassemble in approximately 9 months to assess the protocols, microbe standards, etc. The NCCLS Veterinary Subcommittee (VS) has agreed to assist in the standardization of these protocols within the USA. The VS has initiated the formation of an Aquaculture Working Group, which is presently being formed, to facilitate this process. Procedures and strategies for finalization of the protocols will be reviewed. Assistance in the testing of protocols is being sought worldwide from the aquaculture health community. Return to 24th Annual Eastern Fish Health Workshop Return to Leetown Science Center Home Page