title: Field testing of a vaccine against eel diseases caused by Vibrio vulnificus.
abstract: The field results of a vaccination programme against Vibrio vulnificus serovar E (biotype 2) in a Spanish eel farm are reported. A total of 9.5 million glass eels were vaccinated from January 1998 to March 2000 by prolonged immersion followed by 2 subsequent reimmunisations after 12 to 14 and 24 to 28 d, respectively. The acquired protection and the immune response against serovar E were estimated over a period of 6 mo after vaccination. A similar vaccination schedule was conducted with elvers in a Danish eel farm. In this case, the acquired protection and the immune response against serovar E and the new eel-pathogenic serovars, recently described in Denmark, were evaluated over a short term. The overall results show that the vaccine against V. vulnificus serovar E induces a satisfactory protective immunity during the main growth period of eels (around 6 mo) with a relative percentage survival of 62 to 86% and protects them against the new eel-pathogenic serovars. Vaccination of eels by immersion seems to be the best strategy to prevent diseases caused by V. vulnificus.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Microbiología y Ecología, Facultad de Biologia, Universidad de Valencia, Burjassot, Spain.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Fouz
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Esteve-Gassent
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Barrera
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Larsen
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Nielsen
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Amaro
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines / Q000276:immunology; D001835:Body Weight; D004524:Eels; D005393:Fish Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*; D013997:Time Factors; D014611:Vaccination / Q000662:veterinary; D014733:Vibrio / Q000276:immunology*; D014735:Vibrio Infections / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000662:veterinary*
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines