LONGEVITY OF EDWARDSIELLA-ICTALURI IN THE ORGANS OF EXPERIMENTALLY INFECTED CHANNEL CATFISH, ICTALURUS-PUNCTATUS

Channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) were experimentally infected with the bacterium Edward-siella ictaluri by water-borne exposure to determine its longevity in the organs of the fish. E. ictaluri was isolated in high numbers from the organs of infected channel catfish with a range of 1.93-4.8 x 10(5) cells/g for 65 days post-infection. It was concluded that channel catfish can be carriers of E. ictaluri and can serve as a source of infection for other fish. The liver, head kidney, trunk kidney and brain had consistently higher bacterial cells/g than blood, gall bladder, gonad, muscle and spleen. None of the fish in the study developed the "hole in the head" lesions characteristic of chronic infections of the disease.