Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Outbreak of Edwardsiella tarda infection in farm-cultured giant mottled eel Anguilla marmorata in China

  • Original Article
  • Aquaculture
  • Published:
Fisheries Science Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In 2012, a freshwater farm in south China experienced a severe disease outbreak in cultured giant mottled eel Anguilla marmorata, resulting in high mortality. The diseased eels showed extreme ulcerative injuries throughout their bodies and obvious swelling of the liver and body kidney. A pure culture of a bacterial strain, designated HZHM, was isolated and identified as Edwardsiella tarda based on its physiological and biochemical characteristics and on phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA and fimbrial genes. The HZHM strain was unable to produce hydrogen sulphide (H2S) from thiosulphate in biochemical testing. In addition, results of the challenge trial confirmed that the HZHM strain was virulent for A. marmorata, with an LD50 value of 1.3 × 106 colony-forming units (CFU). Histologically, severe hemorrhage occurred in most organs, increased melano-macrophage reaction was observed in the spleen and body kidney, and cytoplasmic vacuolation and liquefactive necrosis were found in the brain. To our knowledge, this is the first report of E. tarda-associated pathogenicity in A. marmorata.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Ewing WH, Mcwhorter AC, Escobar MR, Lubin AH (1965) Edwardsiella, a new genus of Enterobacteriaceae based on a new species, Edwardsiella tarda. Int Bull Bacteriol Nomencl Taxon 15:33–38

    Google Scholar 

  2. Grimont PAD, Grimont F, Richard C, Sakazaki R (1980) Edwardsiella hoshinae, a new species of Enterobacteriaceae. Curr Microbiol 4:347–351

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Hawke JP, Mcwhorter AC, Steigerwalt AG, Brenner DJ (1981) Edwardsiella ictaluri sp. nov., the causative agent of enteric septicemia of catfish. Int J Syst and Evolut Microbiol 31:396–400

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Bockemuhl J, Pan-Urai R and Burkhardt F (1971) Edwardsiella tarda associated with human disease. Pathologia et Microbiologia, pp. 393–401

  5. Janda JM, Abbott SL (1993) Infections associated with the genus Edwardsiella: the role of Edwardsiella tarda in human disease. Clin Infect Dis 17:742–748

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Joh SJ, Kim MJ, Kwon HM, Ahn EH, Jang H, Kwon JH (2011) Characterization of Edwardsiella tarda isolated from farm-cultured eels, Anguilla japonica, in the Republic of Korea. J Vet Med Sci 73:7–11

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Meyer FP, Bullock GL (1973) Edwardsiella tarda, a new pathogen of channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus). Appl Microbiol 25:155–156

    PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Miyashita T (1984) Pseudomonas fluorescens and Edwardsiella tarda isolated from diseased tilapia. Fish Pathol 19:45–50

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Wyatt LE, Nickelson R 2nd, Vanderzant C (1979) Edwardsiella tarda in freshwater catfish and their environment. Appl Environ Microbiol 38:710–714

    PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Castro N, Toranzo AE, Barja JL, Nunez S, Magarinos B (2006) Characterization of Edwardsiella tarda strains isolated from turbot, Psetta maxima (L.). J Fish Dis 29:541–547

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Alcaide E, Herraiz S, Esteve C (2006) Occurrence of Edwardsiella tarda in wild European eels Anguilla anguilla from Mediterranean Spain. Dis Aquat Organ 73:77–81

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Mohanty BR, Sahoo PK (2007) Edwardsiellosis in fish: a brief review. J Biosci 32:1331–1344

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Luo MZ, Guan RZ, Li ZQ, Jin H (2013) The effects of water temperature on the survival, feeding, and growth of the juveniles of Anguilla marmorata and A. bicolor pacifica. Aquaculture 400:61–64

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Min Z-Q (1998) The comparative study of biochemical compositions of muscle of Anguilla Marmorata and Anguilla Japonica. J Jimei Univ 3:132–135

    Google Scholar 

  15. Chino N, Arai T (2010) Migratory history of the giant mottled eel (Anguilla marmorata) in the Bonin Islands of Japan. Ecol Freshw Fish 19:19–25

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Arai T, Chino N, Le DQ (2013) Migration and habitat use of the tropical eels Anguilla marmorata and A. bicolor pacifica in Vietnam. Aquat Ecol 47:57–65

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Park CI, Choi SY, Kim WS, Oh MJ, Kim EH, Kim HY, Jeong HD, Han HJ, Kim DH (2012) Characterization of the unusual non-thiosulfate-reducing Edwardsiella tarda isolated from eel (Anguilla japonica) farms. Aquaculture 356:415–419

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Joh SJ, Ahn EH, Lee HJ, Shin GW, Kwon JH, Park CG (2013) Bacterial pathogens and flora isolated from farm-cultured eels (Anguilla japonica) and their environmental waters in Korean eel farms. Vet Microbiol 163:190–195

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Yang F-Y, Guan R-Z, Li Z-Q, Yu H-Z, LI Q-Y (2013) Identification of pathogenic Citrobacter freundii isolated from Anguilla marmorata. J Jimei Univ 18:81–87

    Google Scholar 

  20. Weisburg WG, Barns SM, Pelletier DA, Lane DJ (1991) 16S ribosomal DNA amplification for phylogenetic study. J Bacteriol 173:697–703

    PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Sakai T, Yuasa K, Sano M, Iida T (2009) Identification of Edwardsiella ictaluri and E. tarda by species-specific polymerase chain reaction targeted to the upstream region of the fimbrial gene. J Aquat Anim Health 21:124–132

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Hamilton MA, Russo RC, Thurston RV (1977) Trimmed Spearman-Karber method for estimating median lethal concentrations in toxicity bioassays. Environ Sci Technol 11:714–719

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Bauer AW, Kirby WM, Sherris JC, Turck M (1966) Antibiotic susceptibility testing by a standardized single disk method. Am J Clin Pathol 45:493–496

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Qu H-T, Li X-X, Wang M-Y, He Q, Li Z-F (2009) Preliminary study on superintensive industrial culture of Anguilla marmorata in recirculating aquaculture system. Fishery Mod 36:13–16

    Google Scholar 

  25. Fan H-P (2009) A survey on the introduction and rearing test of new culture eel species in China. Science Fish Farming 12:2–3

    Google Scholar 

  26. Lai X-J, Guan R-Z, Luo M-Z, Yang F-Y, Xu J-S (2013) Research on superintensive fingerlings breeding of Anguilla marmorata and Anguilla bicolor pacifica in recirculating aquaculture system. Fishery Mod 40:1–6

    Google Scholar 

  27. Walton DT, Abbott SL, Janda JM (1993) Sucrose-positive Edwardsiella tarda mimicking a biogroup 1 strain isolated from a patient with cholelithiasis. J Clin Microbiol 31:155–156

    PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Acharya M, Maiti NK, Mohanty S, Mishra P, Samanta M (2007) Genotyping of Edwardsiella tarda isolated from freshwater fish culture system. Comp Immunol Microbiol Infect Dis 30:33–40

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Baya AM, Romalde JL, Green DE, Navarro RB, Evans J, May EB, Toranzo AE (1997) Edwardsiellosis in wild striped bass from the Chesapeake Bay. J Wildl Dis 33:517–525

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Miwa S, Mano N (2000) Infection with Edwardsiella tarda causes hypertrophy of liver cells in the Japanese flounder Paralichthys olivaceus. Dis Aquat Organ 42:227–231

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Maiti B, Shetty M, Shekar M, Karunasagar I, Karunasagar I (2011) Recombinant outer membrane protein A (OmpA) of Edwardsiella tarda, a potential vaccine candidate for fish, common carp. Microbiol Res 167:1–7

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Choi SH, Kim KH (2011) Generation of two auxotrophic genes knock-out Edwardsiella tarda and assessment of its potential as a combined vaccine in olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus). Fish Shellfish Immunol 31:58–65

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Kang YJ, Kwak JS, Kim KH (2014) Effects of cimetidine on vaccine efficacy of orally administered live auxotrophic Edwardsiella tarda mutant in olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus). Aquaculture 420:206–210

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Park SB, Aoki T, Jung TS (2012) Pathogenesis of and strategies for preventing Edwardsiella tarda infection in fish. Vet Res 43:67

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work was funded in part by the Marine Fisheries Science and Technology Promotion Project of Guangdong Province, Guangdong Province Special Funds for the Prevention and Treatment of Fish Diseases to Dr. Xue-Ming Dan, and the Foundation of Guangdong Province joint training graduate student demonstration base to Dr. Lian Gan. We would like to express our gratitude to Dr. Elizabeth G. Wills of Cornell University for improving the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, 483 Wushan Street, Tianhe District, Guangzhou, 510642, People’s Republic of China

    Ze-Quan Mo, Ling Zhou, Xiang Zhang, Lian Gan, Li Liu & Xue-Ming Dan

Authors
  1. Ze-Quan Mo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ling Zhou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Xiang Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Lian Gan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Li Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Xue-Ming Dan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xue-Ming Dan.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Mo, ZQ., Zhou, L., Zhang, X. et al. Outbreak of Edwardsiella tarda infection in farm-cultured giant mottled eel Anguilla marmorata in China. Fish Sci 81, 899–905 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12562-015-0906-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12562-015-0906-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation