Euroscicon are offering a discounted registration fee of £50 to the first five people who register online for:

"Advances in Fish Disease, Diagnosis & Treatment"

using the discount code

fishnews

This meeting, which will be held on October 6th in London will discuss the significant advances in the tools and techniques available for the identification and characterisation of a wide range of fish pathogens and their benefits which include new tools for research and improved speed and accuracy of diagnosis and treatment of disease outbreaks in the field.

Plenty of opportunity will be given to discuss problems and for networking

To find out more, or to reserve your place follow this link

http://www.regonline.co.uk/fishdisease

Please note that this offer will not work if you have registered for this event already

Meeting Highlights

Detection of viraemia and virus-neutralizing antibodies- complementary tools for diagnosis of salmonid alphavirus infections.
Dr David Graham, Fish Diseases Unit, Belfast, Ireland

Does the rosette agent have relatives in Europe?

Dr Rodolphe Gozlan, CEH Dorset, Natural Environment Research Council, Winfrith Technology Centre, Dorchester UK

Twenty years after the first characterisation of the rosette agent Sphaerothecum destruens in salmonids, a close relative has been identified in an invasive cyprinid species in the UK. It is the first representative of “rosette” agent found outside the USA and the first on a non-salmonid species. This rosette-like agent has been associated with the dramatic decline of the endangered European cyprinid Leucaspius delineatus, and its rapid extinction. Here we compare morphology and a molecular observation of the different S. destruens isolates with the recent European addition and discuss the classification. Our results will feed in the UK new risk assessment policy as this intracellular eukaryotic parasite is likely to pose a substantial threat to the conservation of European fish diversity.

Development and use of probiotics in aquaculture
Prof. Brian Austin, Dean of the University (Science and Engineering), Professor of Microbiology Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland
Probiotics, which are micro-organisms or their products with health benefit to the host, are increasingly used in aquaculture as a means of disease control, supplementing or even replacing the reliance on antimicrobial compounds. A wide range of microalgae, yeasts, and Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria has been evaluated. However, the mode of action of the probiotics is rarely considered, but the possibilities include competitive exclusion, antibiosis and/or by the stimulation of host immunity. Probiotics often stimulate appetite and improve nutrition by the production of vitamins, detoxification of compounds in the diet, and by the breakdown of indigestible components.

Serum pentraxins: a diagnostic technique for monitoring general health status in fish

Dr Dave Hoole,University of Keele

In aquaculture there is a need for rapid diagnostic assays to detect a reduction in general health status. Numerous alterations occur within fish in response to inflammation which include the acute phase pentraxins e.g. C reactive protein (CRP). Affinity chromatography protocols have enabled carp serum CRP to be isolated and characterised. An ELISA has been developed which is capable of detecting significant increases in CRP serum levels in cultured carp exposed to a variety of insults e.g. the bacterial pathogen Aeromonas hydrophila for 24-48 hours. The assay has the potential to be used as a monitor of fish health status.

Progress in Fish Immunodiagnostics

Professor Sandra Adams, University of Stirling, Scotland

Immunological methods (e.g FAT, IHC, ELISA) enable the rapid specific detection of fish pathogens. ELISA can also be used in serology (detection of pathogen-specific antibodies in the host animal) as a means of disease surveillance, although such methods are presently underused in aquaculture. The development of Rapid Kits and multiplex tests has recently added a new dimension to fish immunodiagnostics. The former are based on lateral flow technology and enable rapid sensitive detection of pathogens without the need for specialised equipment. Multiplex assays, using Luminex technology, are also under development for the simultaneous detection and identification of  a variety of fish pathogens.

Immunostimulants: their use in fish health management and disease control

Dr Ian Bricknell, Marine Laboratory, Aberdeen, Scotland

The production of marine fish is hampered by infectious disease outbreaks during larval development often leading to complete wipe-outs of infected populations. The development of strategies to control pathogen load in larval systems and immunoprophylactic measures must be optimised to realise the economic production of marine fish larvae and improve the overall production. However, vaccination of larval fish is impractical due to their small size. Immunostimulation of larval fish has been proposed as a method of improving larval survival, during periods of high risk, by increasing the innate immunity of developing animals until specific immune responses can take over.