The polymerase chain reaction technique as a specific and sensitive detection method for Aeromonas salmonicida and Aeromonas sobria in natural ecosystems (water, sediment, and fish)

There are many constraints to the development of aquaculture in developing countries, one of the major problems being fish and shrimp diseases. The International Foundation of Science noted that of its more than 100 aquaculture grants on this date (1995) only 13 are concerned with fish health problems. Two years ago this was even less, when only 2 of the 100 grants were involved in fish health. However, studies about the causes of the diseases and their ecological effects in natural fish populations/ecosystems are extremely difficult to quantify. The identifications of pathogens have largely been confined to classical bacterial culture techniques. The methods involved in the identification of pathogens are very time consuming, and provide sometimes inconclusive results. Based on the amount of investment in aquaculture enterprises at the moment, there is a need for a rapid, sensitive, and specific technique for identifying bacteria that are responsible for disease outbreaks in fish and shrimp cultures. With this note, we are drawing attention to a new molecular biological method which can be used for identifying all kinds of species, also pathogenic bacteria.

Article from Marine Science Symposia Vol. 201 - "Mass rearing of juvenile fish". Symposium held in Bergen, 21-23 June 1993. To access the remaining articles please click on the keyword "MSS Vol. 201".