Resistance to bacterial infectious diseases in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

Individually tagged rainbow trout representing 15 full-sibling families were sequentially challenged twice with Aeromonas salmonicida causing furunculosis: first as cohabitation and then as injected intraperitoneally. The bleeding procedure prior to challenges caused the outbreak of cold water disease by Flavobacterium psychrophilum. Before and after the outbreak and challenges, 11 immunological parameters were measured from blood samples. The immunological responses predicted the fate of the fish since nearly all the initial responses were lower in individuals which later died from cold water disease than in survivors. Fish died from furunculosis had impaired respiratory burst (RB) response to A. salmonicida. Fish that had initially the highest responses survived in the outbreak and challenges. The outbreak and challenges resulted in these individuals higher and faster responses compared with initial values. Unlike in mammals, the number of monocytes, but not that of granulocytes, in rainbow trout blood correlated well with the whole blood RB activity. The fish families differed markedly from each other in capacity to resist the induced diseases.