title: Zebrafish as a model for zoonotic aquatic pathogens.
abstract: Aquatic habitats harbor a multitude of bacterial species. Many of these bacteria can act as pathogens to aquatic species and/or non-aquatic organisms, including humans, that come into contact with contaminated water sources or colonized aquatic organisms. In many instances, the bacteria are not pathogenic to the aquatic species they colonize and are only considered pathogens when they come into contact with humans. There is a general lack of knowledge about how the environmental lifestyle of these pathogens allows them to persist, replicate and produce the necessary pathogenic mechanisms to successfully transmit to the human host and cause disease. Recently, the zebrafish infectious disease model has emerged as an ideal system for examining aquatic pathogens, both in the aquatic environment and during infection of the human host. This review will focus on how the zebrafish has been used successfully to analyze the pathogenesis of aquatic bacterial pathogens.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, USA. Electronic address: hrowe@med.wayne.edu.
authors.forename: Hannah M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Rowe
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, USA. Electronic address: jwithey@med.wayne.edu.
authors.forename: Jeffrey H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Withey
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, USA. Electronic address: mneely@med.wayne.edu.
authors.forename: Melody N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Neely
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000276:immunology; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D018407:Bacterial Physiological Phenomena; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D006801:Humans; D014871:Water Microbiology; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000382:microbiology*
keywords: Aquaculture; Aquatic pathogens; Bacteria; Environmental reservoir; Zebrafish; Zoonotic