Aquatic Environment & Health Mgmt

Characteristics of acute phase proteins (APPs):

• Complement components are cascade proteins involved in cell lysis and opsonization, some of which are minor acute phase reactants, but CRP is the classic prototypical positive acute phase protein.
• An antigen is any foreign substance that elicits an immune response.
• Antibodies are immunoglobulin molecules secreted during the adaptive humoral response.
• Reactive Protein (CRP) is the classic and prototypical major positive acute phase protein synthesized rapidly and released by hepatocytes in response to pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, IL-1, TNF-alpha) following tissue damage, infection, or microbial invasion, acting as an opsonin to activate the complement pathway.

Epidemiological classification of infectious animal diseases:

• Panzootic refers to an explosive epizootic outbreak affecting an animal population over a vast geographical area across international national boundaries or continents (the animal equivalent of a human pandemic), directly describing transboundary disease spread (e.g., global spread of White Spot Syndrome Virus or Epizootic Ulcerative Syndrome).
• Epizootic refers to an outbreak affecting a large number of animals simultaneously within a specific region (equivalent to an epidemic).
• Enzootic refers to a disease constantly present in an animal population at a low baseline level within a given locality (equivalent to endemic).
• Zoonotic refers to infectious diseases naturally transmissible between vertebrate animals and humans.

Gram-staining classification of major aquatic bacterial pathogens:

• Yersinia ruckeri (causative agent of enteric redmouth disease in salmonids) is a Gram-negative rod.
• Aeromonas hydrophila (causative agent of motile aeromonad septicemia / dropsy in warmwater fish) is a Gram-negative bacillus.
• Streptococcus iniae is a major Gram-positive, non-motile, non-spore-forming chain-forming coccus that causes fatal streptococcal septicemia and meningoencephalitis in farmed marine and freshwater fish (such as tilapia, barramundi, and trout).
• Flavobacterium columnare (causative agent of columnaris disease) is a Gram-negative, gliding filamentous bacterium.