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Understanding
The Microbial Ecology And Epidemiology Of Disease
Peter Smith Fish Disease Group, Department of Microbiology, National
University of Ireland, Galway, Republic of Ireland There are a
number of approaches that can been employed in the study of infectious
diseases. These range from the strictly reductionist concentration on the molecular
properties of the pathogen to the more holistic approaches which focus on the
epidemiology of the disease (Smith, 1999).
This paper will critically analyse the application of these various
strategies to the fish disease furunculosis. In this analysis it will be
assumed that the aim of research into this disease is to provide the
knowledge-base that would allow the achievement of a reduction of the disease
incidence. The paper will, therefore, focus on the contribution of research to
the identification of the critical control points in fish production and to the
development of control strategies that can be applied. In the analysis it will
be accepted that both the purpose of an aquaculture enterprise, re-stocking or
commercial fish-rearing, and the various national and international regulatory
constraints present critically different environments for disease control. The
paper will draw heavily on the author's experience of attempting to develop
methods for limiting the impact of this disease in salmonid aquaculture in
Ireland over the last 25 years but will also draw on the extensive scientific
literature that has been developed around this disease (Bernoth et al., 1997).
The overall aim of the talk will be to initiate a discussion of the styles of research
that would appear to offer the greatest hope for providing practical control of
furunculosis or of any other infectious disease of fish. Bernoth,
E.M., Ellis, A.E., Midtlyng, P.J., Olivier, G. and Smith, P. ,eds. (1997). Furunculosis: Multidisciplinary Fish
Disease Research. Academic Press, London. 529p. Smith,
P. (1999). An overview of current fish disease research: hyper-reality in a
post-modern world. Bulletin of the European Association of Fish Pathologists,
19(6): 310-312.
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