TWENTY-FIFTH ANNUAL EASTERN FISH HEALTH WORKSHOP MARCH 10-13, 2000   Can Vaccination Be Used As A Barrier To The Dissemination Of Furunculosis?   Maura Hiney1 and Rocco Cipriano2   1Fish Disease Group, Department of Microbiology, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland; 2U.S. Geological Survey, National Fish Health Research Laboratory, 1700 Leetown Road, Kearneysville, WV 25430, USA       The movement of fish, from either freshwater to freshwater or freshwater to seawater, is an in integral part of both restocking and aquaculture programs. With regards to furunculosis, the existence of covert (clinically inapparent) infections presents a number of challenges. A number of strategies may be adopted to reduce the risk of dissemination of furunculosis through movement, including diagnosis of any existing disease, management of stress in vulnerable fish populations and the use of barriers. These barriers may include bars to movement, chemotherapy of vulnerable populations or populations found to be infected, and more recently vaccination. Vaccination has been applied in situations where protection of populations against acquisition of disease following movement is desired, but also as a pre-movement therapy of populations believed or found to have covert furunculosis. This second approach raises the possibility of the creation of ‘immune carriers’, that is, fish that are protected against clinical disease through vaccination but which are still capable of transmitting disease.  In order to act as an effective barrier treatment to the dissemination of covert or overt furunculosis, vaccination must fulfil the following criteria: (1)  prevention of stress induced clinical disease in these fish, (2) prevention of disease transmission from these fish to vulnerable cohorts, and (3) protection against the acquisition of disease from infected cohorts. This paper reports on the results of experiments which were aimed at assessing the efficacy of vaccination as a barrier treatment in the light of these criteria.           Return to 25th Annual Eastern Fish Health Workshop Return to Leetown Science Center Home Page