One of the major sources of financial loss for the fish farming industry is the occurrence of infections by pathogenic bacteria, especially multidrug-resistant variants. This problem is most prominent during the early stages of fish development and is difficult to address with traditional antibiotic treatment or vaccination. In this way, alternative environmentally-friendly biological strategies to control bacterial infections need to be implemented. The aim of this study was to test the efficacy of phage therapy to inactivate Aeromonas salmonicida, the causative agent of furunculosis, a fish disease characterized by high mortality and morbidity. In order to achieve this goal, a new phage was isolated, characterized and tested in artificially-infected Solea senegalensis juveniles and in batch bacterial cultures.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0044848615301083