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Category: Clinical Microbiology
Streptococcus iniae: an Emerging Pathogen in the Aquaculture Industry, Page 1 of 2
< Previous page | Next page > /docserver/preview/fulltext/10.1128/9781555818418/9781555811686_Chap04-1.gif /docserver/preview/fulltext/10.1128/9781555818418/9781555811686_Chap04-2.gifAbstract:
The aquaculture industry, which is increasingly being developed, has not yet been recognized to result in significant human disease. Aquaculture in North America involves diverse farming systems in diverse areas. The criticisms concern contamination of the environment by aquaculture systems through unwanted obstructions to coastal navigation, unsightly cages or pens, aquaculture effluents such as excess food and chemotherapeutics, and the use of nonnative species or native species that are either domesticated or genetically different from wild stocks. The level of contamination of aquaculture products with pathogenic bacteria depends on the environment and the bacteriological quality of the water where the fish are cultured. It should be noted that nonindigenous bacteria of fecal origin could be introduced into aquaculture ponds via contamination by birds and wild animals associated with farm waters. Streptococcus iniae has also been reported to be the causative agent of ongoing infection and excess mortality of tilapia in Texas aquaculture farms. Overcrowding in farms and during transport may have contributed to the increasing importance of streptococcal infections in fish. Finally, although S. iniae commonly colonized the surfaces of tilapia and other species of fish, isolates are genetically diverse. Although S. iniae is capable of causing invasive disease in humans, serious disease appears to be rare, and if people take the proper precautionary measures when handling whole, uncooked fish, infections caused by S. iniae can be prevented.
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Tilapia (Oreochromis species), also known as St. Peter's fish or Hawaiian sunfish.
Tilapia (Oreochromis species), also known as St. Peter's fish or Hawaiian sunfish.
PFGE analysis of S. iniae strains after digestion of chromosomal DNA with SmaI Lane 8, pattern A seen for all isolates from patients in the greater Toronto area with clinical cases of infection; Lanes 5 (tilapia brain, Texas, 1993), 6 (patient 11, Texas, 1991), and 7 (patient 10, Ottawa, 1994) have a single band shift (pattern A′). Lane 4, sample from a fish from a Toronto retail store with pattern A. Lanes 1 (ATCC 29177), 2 (ATCC 29178), and 3 (S. iniae from a Toronto retail store) all have unrelated PFGE patterns. Lane 9, bacteriophage lambda ladder molecular size standard. (Reprinted from reference 38 with permission from M. Weinstein and the New England Journal of Medicine.)
PFGE analysis of S. iniae strains after digestion of chromosomal DNA with SmaI Lane 8, pattern A seen for all isolates from patients in the greater Toronto area with clinical cases of infection; Lanes 5 (tilapia brain, Texas, 1993), 6 (patient 11, Texas, 1991), and 7 (patient 10, Ottawa, 1994) have a single band shift (pattern A′). Lane 4, sample from a fish from a Toronto retail store with pattern A. Lanes 1 (ATCC 29177), 2 (ATCC 29178), and 3 (S. iniae from a Toronto retail store) all have unrelated PFGE patterns. Lane 9, bacteriophage lambda ladder molecular size standard. (Reprinted from reference 38 with permission from M. Weinstein and the New England Journal of Medicine.)
Demographic characteristics of patients with culture-confirmed cases of invasive S. iniae infection a
Demographic characteristics of patients with culture-confirmed cases of invasive S. iniae infection a