The Epidemiology of Bacterial Diseases in Food-Size Channel Catfish

TLDR: Three possible risk factors associated with ESC/columnaris are identified, namely, operation size, stocking density, and feeding rate, which generate hypotheses about managerial and environmental interactions that represent substantial risks to production.

Abstract: Enteric septicemia of catfish (ESC) and columnaris are the most economically important bacterial diseases affecting the channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus industry in the United States. Although these two diseases have been extensively researched, little is known about their prevalence and epidemiology in production systems. In 1997, a two-part survey of catfish producers in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi was conducted to estimate the proportion of ponds and catfish operations that have these diseases and to develop information on the risk factors associated with reporting an occurrence. The response rates to the two phases of the survey were 65.6% and 75.3%, respectively. Overall, 78.1% of all operations and 42.1% of all ponds experienced problems with ESC/columnaris. Higher percentages of large operations and ponds on large operations experienced these problems. The most frequently reported average loss per outbreak of the two diseases was 200–2,000 lb (1 lb = 0.454 kg) per outb...