Live vaccine trials against nocardiosis in yellowtail Seriola quinqueradiata

In an attempt to develop a vaccine against Nocardia seriolae, related species of live bacteria N. soli, N. fluminea, and N. uniformis were injected into yellowtail Seriola quinqueradiata. In addition, fish were challenged with a low virulence strain of N. seriolae to model the concept of use of a live vaccine. The fish injected with live N. soli and N. fluminea cells showed slight resistance against an artificial challenge with N. seriolae. On the other hand, the fish that survived the N. seriolae infection showed complete resistance to the N. seriolae challenge. These results suggest that protective immune responses against N. seriolae are induced in yellowtails.