Immunisation of fish by bath immersion using ultrasound

Ultrasonic irradiations (USI) as a means to open routes in the skin, thus facilitating the transdermal delivery of vaccines that will improve the effectiveness of vaccination by immersion, are reviewed in this paper. Based on our recent results in goldfish and carp it could be summarized that: (i) USI significantly improved the antigen uptake and enhanced antibody response; (ii) the requirements for high antigen concentrations, which are needed for simple bath immersion, could be considerably reduced in presonicated fish; (iii) after bath immersion, the antigen was slowly released from the skin to the blood in which its presence could still be detected 24 hours later. This retardation of the antigen in the skin was suggested to be due to a possible interaction with cells of the local immune system, in which it is processed and recognized. It is concluded that the recent advances in biotechnology of immunization with recombinant DNA and the use of DNA vaccines, together with the improvement of their administration using USI, provide interesting prospects for the further application of vaccines against viral and even parasitic diseases of fish.