PROTECTION AGAINST CRYPTOBIA (TRYPANOPLASMA) SALMOSITICA AND SALMONIDCRYPTOBIOSIS

Cryptobia (Trypanoplasma) salmositica is a haemoflagellate that causes morbidity and mortality in salmon, Oncorhynchus spp, on the Pacific c oast of North America, In this review, Patrick Woo briefly describes t he pathogen, its transmissions (either indirectly via its leech vector , Piscicola salmositica, or directly between fish) and the clinical si gns of the disease. He then outlines strategies that have been develop ed to protect fish against the pathogen, and the mechanism of innate r esistance to disease in Cryptobia-tolerant fish. Protective strategies include the breeding of fish that are resistant to infection, and the use of an attenuated C. salmositica strain to protect susceptible fis h from disease for at least two years. He ends the review with suggest ions for further research that include the use of the leech vector to deliver the vaccine and the development of more novel protective strat egies (eg. immunochemotherapy, anti-idiotype vaccine) against cryptobi osis.