Fish Vaccination

Like all livestock, farmed fish can be protected from disease risks by vaccination. Vaccines have been a major factor in decreasing the use of antibiotics in aquaculture while keeping fish healthy. However, a vaccine is only effective if it is delivered properly into the fish, in the correct place and at the correct dose. Large scale Bioproduction at land or at sea comes with inherit problem of infection, disease spread and severe mortality, leading to huge economic losses and large scale outbreaks of infectious diseases. Aquaculture is not any different, a sporadic infection event in wild fish, becomes a disease outbreak in fish farming. In the event of increase in fish farming, the use of antibiotics and sulpha drugs was replaced by the concept of vaccination as a means of preventing/ controlling fish diseases and to the development of commercially available vaccines. Vaccination can contribute in not only controlling the diseases, which effects the economic and environmental sustainability of fish farming. The era of vaccine development has led to accumulation of information on immune system of fish, production of vaccines, vaccination strategies, side effects and mechanisms of vaccination. This book deals with the efforts towards vaccine development of bacterial and viral diseases.

Fisheries are based on complex resources which include hundreds of kinds of fish. Each species has its own habits, living in different kinds of water, has different market qualities but together they provide excellent protein-rich food in far greater variety than animal agriculture. Prevention and control of fish diseases in Aquaculture is high priority in aquaculture industry. Unlike treating human or other animal diseases, few drugs are available for treating diseases in fish. Therefore, control of diseases in aquaculture and fish farms relies on a combination of good management practices, use of the few approved and commercially available drugs and vaccines and prevention of infection. Vaccination is becoming an increasingly important part of aquaculture, since it is considered a cost effective method of controlling different threatening diseases.