title: POTENTIAL FOR GREAT EGRETS (ARDEA ALBA) TO TRANSMIT A VIRULENT STRAIN OF AEROMONAS HYDROPHILA AMONG CHANNEL CATFISH (ICTALURUS PUNCTATUS) CULTURE PONDS.
abstract: Aeromonas hydrophila is a gram-negative, rod-shaped, facultative, anaerobic bacterium that is ubiquitous in freshwater and slightly brackish aquatic environments and infects fish, humans, reptiles, and birds. Recent severe outbreaks of disease in commercial channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) aquaculture ponds have been associated with a highly virulent A. hydrophila strain (VAH), which is genetically distinct from less-virulent strains. The epidemiology of this disease has not been determined. Given that A. hydrophila infects birds, we hypothesized that fish-eating birds may serve as a reservoir for VAH and spread the pathogen by flying to uninfected ponds. Great Egrets (Ardea alba) were used in this transmission model because these wading birds frequently prey on farmed catfish. Great Egrets that were fed VAH-infected catfish shed VAH in feces demonstrating their potential to spread VAH.
authors.affiliation: 1  Department of Basic Science, College of Veterinary Medicine, Mississippi State University, PO Box 6100, Mississippi State, Mississippi 39762, USA.
authors.forename: Madison M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Jubirt
authors.affiliation: 1  Department of Basic Science, College of Veterinary Medicine, Mississippi State University, PO Box 6100, Mississippi State, Mississippi 39762, USA.
authors.forename: Larry A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Hanson
authors.affiliation: 2  Mississippi Field Station, National Wildlife Research Center, Wildlife Services, US Department of Agriculture, PO Box 6099, Mississippi State, Mississippi 39762, USA.
authors.forename: Katie C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Hanson-Dorr
authors.affiliation: 1  Department of Basic Science, College of Veterinary Medicine, Mississippi State University, PO Box 6100, Mississippi State, Mississippi 39762, USA.
authors.forename: Lorelei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ford
authors.affiliation: 2  Mississippi Field Station, National Wildlife Research Center, Wildlife Services, US Department of Agriculture, PO Box 6099, Mississippi State, Mississippi 39762, USA.|3  Current address: Mississippi Chapter, The Nature Conservancy, 405 Briarwood Drive, Suite 101, Jackson, Mississippi 39206, USA.
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lemmons
authors.affiliation: 2  Mississippi Field Station, National Wildlife Research Center, Wildlife Services, US Department of Agriculture, PO Box 6099, Mississippi State, Mississippi 39762, USA.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fioranelli
authors.affiliation: 2  Mississippi Field Station, National Wildlife Research Center, Wildlife Services, US Department of Agriculture, PO Box 6099, Mississippi State, Mississippi 39762, USA.
authors.forename: Fred L
authors.initials: FL
authors.lastname: Cunningham
mesh_terms: D016980:Aeromonas hydrophila; D000818:Animals; D057138:Bacterial Shedding; D001715:Bird Diseases / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000635:transmission; D001717:Birds / Q000382:microbiology*; D004197:Disease Reservoirs / Q000382:microbiology; D005393:Fish Diseases / Q000382:microbiology / Q000635:transmission*; D016905:Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections / Q000635:transmission / Q000662:veterinary*; D007059:Ictaluridae / Q000382:microbiology*; D061005:Ponds / Q000382:microbiology
keywords: Aeromonas hydrophila; Ardea alba; Great Egret; Ictalurus punctatus; aquaculture; epidemiology; virulent Aeromonas hydrophila (VAH)