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      History of Fish Health Management

• Fish Health Management
• Management practices designed to prevent fish
  disease episodes in confined or free ranging fish
  populations.
• Aquaculture
• The art and science of rearing aquatic organisms
  (finfish, shellfish, aquatic reptiles,
  amphibians, and plants) under controlled
  conditions.
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      History of Fish Health Management

• The occurrence of disease in fish was known
  prior to 1900s but was of no practical
  significance
• Advancement in knowledge is directly related to
  development of intensive aquaculture
• North America development associated with AFS
• Developed separately from health sciences of
  other animal groups

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      History of Fish Health Management

• Requires much different approach than
  terrestrial animals
• Environmental factors (Aquatic)
• Must have knowledge of environment and animal to
  effectively manage around/diagnose disease

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      History of Fish Health Management

• Early reports related to fish disease (very
  little)
• Aristotle (330 BC)
• Discussed a crustacean parasite of tuna and
  swordfish
• Lake Geneva Switzerland (1867)
• Reports of disease (typhus) in fish
• Yellow discharge from vent (probably due to lack
  of food)

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      History of Fish Health

• - Disease in Salmon and Eels (1868)
• Pestis salmonum or Pestis rubra anguillarum
• - Disease now known as vibriosis
• Furunculosis (1896)
• Cultured trout in Germany
• Bacterium salmonicida
• First referenced in US in 1902
• Very serious disease

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      History of Fish Health

• Furunculosis committee (1928) Great Britain
• Set up to help combat disease
• Increased interest in other diseases of fish
• Made people aware Research began to
  investigate pathological changes in fish due to
  disease (1930s to 1950s)
• Disease agent characterization
• Most research done as a hobby not profession

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History of Fish Health

• Fish culturists
• Became aware of the relationship to fish health
  and stocking in troughs, raceways and ponds
• Not all diseases were infectious
• Began to disinfect equipment
• Was a learning process
• Toxic substances
• Advent of insecticides/herbicides
• Causes fish health and environmental problems

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History of Fish Health

• 1947 to 1960
• Rapid progress
• Advances in nutrition
• Development of antibiotic/chemical therapy for
  fish disease control
• better disinfectants
• Viral diseases of fish discovered
• IPN (1960)
• implications for control/spread of pathogens

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History of Fish Health

• Fish importation/transportation (60s and 70s)
• Moved fish and eggs everywhere
• Fish health specialists advocated control of the
  movements of fish/fish eggs
• AFS
• formed Fish Disease Committee (FDC) in 1964 -
  1972
• developed to examine disease problems among fish

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History of Fish Health

• FDC
• promoted restrictions fish movement
• developed USFWS Title 50 this restricted
  movement of certain food or sport fishes (1969)
• Fish movement now only allowed for certified
  pathogen free fish (Board certified fish
  pathologists)
• Ornamental fish still remain free of such
  restrictions
• FDC replaced by Fish Health Section of AFS in
  1972

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History of Fish Health

• Current Status
• made great progress
• still much to do to bring up to the level of
  knowledge for other animals
• Future needs
• more work needed in control of disease in
  aquaculture and for wild populations
• research on Epizootiology
• more work on pathological processes
• fish immunology disease prevention
• nutrition and genetics
• disease diagnostics