The global spread, pathogenesis and control measures for hypervirulent Aeromonas hydrophila in warm water fish species

Mark Liles

Abstract

A clonal population of hypervirulent Aeromonas hydrophila (vAh) has caused the loss of over 10 million kilograms of farmed catfish across the southeastern United States since 2009. Phylogenomic analyses suggest that U.S. catfish isolates emerged from the importation of Asian carp, with outbreaks of A. hydrophila in carp species documented in China since 1989. An ongoing worldwide survey of A. hydrophila isolates revealed that vAh strains have disseminated to multiple countries and can infect diverse fish hosts. We developed two strategies for vAh control, using either probiotic bacteria or an attenuated vaccine.