Co-Infections of Tilapia Lake Virus, Aeromonas hydrophila and Streptococcus agalactiae in Farmed Red Hybrid Tilapia

• Published in: Animals (Basel) Vol. 10; no. 11; p. 2141
• Main Authors: Basri, Lukman, Nor, Roslindawani Md, Salleh, Annas, Md Yasin, Ina Salwany, Saad, Mohd Zamri, Abd Rahaman, Nor Yasmin, Barkham, Timothy, Amal, Mohammad Noor Azmai
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.11.2020; MDPI
• Subjects: Aeromonas; Aeromonas hydrophila; Annealing; Antibiotic resistance; Antibiotics; Appetite loss; Bacteria; co-infections; Communication; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; Drug resistance in microorganisms; Gallbladder; Health aspects; Inclusion bodies; Infections; Inflammation; Kidneys; Lakes; Mortality; Pathogens; Phylogeny; Sequence analysis; Spleen; Streptococcus agalactiae; Tilapia; Tilapia Lake Virus; Tilapinevirus; Tubules; Viruses; Thailand; Malaysia; Egypt; Kuala Lumpur Malaysia; United States > US; Indonesia; Aeromonas hydrophila; tilapia; Tilapia Lake Virus; Streptococcus agalactiae; co-infections
• ISSN: 2076-2615; 2076-2615
• DOI: 10.3390/ani10112141

A high death rate among red hybrid tilapias was observed in a farm in Selangor, Malaysia, in January 2020. The affected fish appeared lethargic, isolated from schooling group, showed loss of appetite, red and haemorrhagic skin, exophthalmia and enlarged gall bladders. Histopathological assessment revealed deformation of kidney tubules, and severe congestion with infiltrations of inflammatory cells in the brains and kidneys. Syncytial cells and intracytoplasmic inclusion bodies were occasionally observed in the liver and brain sections. Tilapia Lake Virus (TiLV), and were identified in the affected fish, either through isolation or through PCR and sequencing analysis. The phylogenetic tree analysis revealed that the TiLV strain in this study was closely related to the previously reported Malaysian strain that was isolated in 2019. On the other hand, and were closer to Algerian and Brazilian strains, respectively. The multiple antibiotic resistance index for and was 0.50 and 0.25, respectively. Co-infections of virus and bacteria in cultured tilapia is a new threat for the tilapia industry.