Yellow cat¢sh Pelteobagrus fulvidraco (Richardson) is a commercially important ¢sh generally distributed in Southeast Asian countries. The well-known aetiological agent of enteric septicaemia of cat¢sh, Edwardsiella ictaluri, was isolated from diseased yellow cat¢sh P. fulvidraco (Richardson) reared at two commercial ¢sheries in China. The economic losses due to the high mortalities (about 50%) caused by this bacterium have been increasing annually. The a¡ected ¢sh presented two di¡erent, typical symptoms: pale gills, slight exophthalmia and a 'hole in the head' , and haemorrhage on the opercula, in the skin under the jaw, creating a 'hole under the jaw' . These diseases were found frequently in cultured yellow cat¢sh throughout China. The isolates from both outbreaks were all Gram negative, facultatively anaerobic and short rod. Morphological and biochemical tests and phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rDNA sequences all strongly indicated that these yellow cat¢sh isolates were highly identical to the known E. ictaluri. In addition, the isolates possessed the typical plasmid pro¢le of E. ictaluri. Experimental infection assays were conducted and pathogenicity (by an intraperitoneal injection) was demonstrated in yellow cat¢sh and channel cat¢sh Ictalurus punctatus. The results showed that yellow cat¢sh isolates were quite conservative phenotypically and genetically, and were able to cause two di¡erent, typical symptoms in this ¢sh under unknown conditions and mechanism.
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