Editorial

Published: 2024-06-27
https://doi.org/10.20935/AcadBiol7280

Aquaculture pathology: diagnostic methods and

evaluation of control strategies against infectious
diseases
César Marcial Escobedo Bonilla1,*
Academic Editor: Andre J. van Wijnen

Keywords: aquaculture pathology, aquatic organisms, diagnostic methods, infectious diseases, disease control

Citation: Escobedo-Bonilla CM. Aquaculture pathology: diagnostic methods and evaluation of control strategies against infectious
diseases. Academia Biology 2024;2. https://doi.org/10.20935/AcadBiol7280

Aquaculture, or the activity of raising aquatic organisms from can cause damage and economic losses to various fish and
early development stages to a commercial size mainly as food shellfish cultures.
source for humans, is an ancient activity. It is known that fish
Diagnostic methods are a useful tool to detect pathogens in
aquaculture was done in Egypt as far as 2500 BC. In China, a
aquaculture. These methods may be applied at different levels
book on fish culture has been recorded dating back to 500 BC.
of the culture cycle with different accuracy and sensibility
Culture of shellfish such as oyster has been done for 2000
levels. These methods include gross examination of animals,
years in Japan and China, whereas its culture in Europe was
dissection and examination of internal organs. Other most
recorded by 100 BC in Italy and Greece [1]. At present,
sensitive and accurate methods include microscopic
aquaculture is an important production industry of animal,
examination, histopathology and molecular analyses such as
algae and microorganisms living in fresh-, brackish-, and sea-
immunoassays, immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridization,
water.
endpoint, or quantitative PCR [9, 10].
Since the end of the 19th century, numerous advances were
The most damaging infectious diseases are caused by viruses
made on the knowledge of the life cycles of several aquatic
and bacteria [8, 11]. In aquatic invertebrates such as
species to enhance natural stocks of aquatic organisms for
crustaceans and mollusks treatment of diseases by these
sport fishing. Other developments included knowledge on the
pathogens is difficult since these animals lack a memory
nutritional and environmental requirements for many species
immune system like that of vertebrates. Hence, these diseases
of fish, crustaceans, mollusk, and other aquatic organisms [2,
cannot be treated with vaccines. Instead, different control
3]. This allowed setting the conditions for the commercial
strategies have been tested including immunostimulation
farming of various aquatic species, often with increasing
with molecules present in the surface of microorganisms, such
technification to boost production.
as β-glucans, lipopolysaccharides, and other sugars, which
Despite the growing technological advances and increasing can be taken up by pattern recognition peptides to elicit the
production of aquaculture settings, diseases appeared soon activation of the defense response [12, 13]. Other molecular
after. These advances were also associated with imbalances in systems have been found in invertebrates that can be used to
water quality, high stocking densities, diminished quality of trigger an antiviral defense response such as RNAi [14]. Most
feed and other factors. These issues may have negatively of the control methods developed against pathogens in
influenced the health of farmed aquatic organisms leading to invertebrates have been tested under experimental
increased susceptibility to diseases [2, 4]. These conditions conditions, but their efficacy in the field has not yet been
may have prompted the appearance of different health issues. evaluated.
Many infectious agents causing disease outbreaks and
In fish and other farmed vertebrates, the presence of the
mortalities often are widely spread through entire regions and
memory immune system allows the use of vaccination to
have devastating impacts to aquaculture settings [5–7].
prevent viral, bacterial and fungal diseases [15]. Nonetheless,
At present, aquaculture is an industry producing animal and not many effective vaccines are commercially available
plant protein for human consumption worth millions of against most of the infectious diseases affecting fish cultures
dollars per year. Nonetheless, the industry is threatened by worldwide. Therefore, research in vaccine development and
the presence of bacterial, viral, protozoan, and fungal other novel strategies against existing and emerging
pathogens causing disease and mortality [4, 8]. Also, parasites infectious diseases is urgently needed.

1 Instituto Politécnico Nacional, CIIDIR Sinaloa, Blvd Juan de Dios Batiz Paredes 250, Col. San Joachin, Guasave 81101, Mexico.
*email: [email protected]

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The field of pathology in aquaculture is a well-established

science which aims to study the presence of infectious agents Publisher’s note
in a pond where a disease has been recorded, the events Academia.edu stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in
leading to disease development and to determine the ultimate published maps and institutional affiliations. All claims expressed
cause of death of the affected organisms. It also aims to in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily
uncover the mechanisms leading to mortality [9]. So, the represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the
information can be used to propose effective methods to publisher, the editors, and the reviewers. Any product that may be
reduce or control the disease and its negative impact on evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its
production and economic loss. manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
The present themed collection is devoted to the topic of
pathology in aquaculture. It will focus on different aspects of
infectious diseases, including emerging pathogens, novel
Copyright
diagnostic methods, development and evaluation of © 2024 copyright by the authors. This article is an open access
experimental control techniques, and insights into novel article distributed under the terms and conditions of the
molecular diagnostic techniques. The cultured species Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://
included are mollusks, crustaceans, fish, amphibians and creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
reptiles.

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César Marcial Escobedo-Bonilla, Academic Editor

Instituto Politécnico Nacional, CIIDIR Sinaloa

César is a researcher with over 25 years of experience in the field of aquaculture pathology and virology. His research is generally
focused on host-pathogen interactions of aquatic organisms such as shrimp, shellfish, and fish. Other areas of his research include
the evaluation of control strategies against viral and/or bacterial infectious diseases and the diagnosis of emerging infectious
agents in aquatic organisms.

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