Since the antibiotics that are used in veterinary medicine and
aquaculture belong to the same group of antibiotics as those
used in medicines for humans, increased resistance to these
medicines will be detrimental to public health. Syed Qaswar Ali
Shah's doctoral research project has studied the genetic
foundation for resistance to antibiotics in bacteria isolated
from salmon fish in Norway. He collected quinolone-resistant
isolates of the bacterium Flavobacterium psychrophilum from
rainbow trout and equivalent isolates of Yersinia ruckeri from
Atlantic salmon. These bacteria are the cause of bacterial
coldwater disease in rainbow trout and redmouth disease in
salmon respectively. Only a limited number of antibiotic agents
are authorised for use in aquaculture. The development of
resistance to quinolones must lead to restrictions in the use of
this drug in the aquaculture industry, heightened focus on the
prevention of infection and the development of a vaccine against
Flavobacterium psychrophilum so that inf