Identification of fish pathogens in California

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PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The California Animal Health and Food Safety (CAHFS) system, within the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM), is comprised of four laboratories dedicated to veterinary diagnostics. As an accredited member of the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians (AAVLD), CAHFS adheres to rigorous standards and maintains strict oversight of all standard operating procedures to ensure results are accurate, repeatable, and consistent. Microbial testing of clinical samples and food matrices is an integral part of our core mission. CAHFS functions as the state veterinary diagnostic laboratory serving the food animal industries for routine clinical diagnostics, for regulatory testing and for food pathogen monitoring. The demand for diagnostic testing for fish species is increasing and CAHFS is currently building capacity to enhance the fish and aquaculture testing that can be offered. Among the major areas of interest are correct identification of bacterial organisms associated with fish disease, as well as antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST), or detection of antimicrobial resistance genes as an alternative to in vitro AST, given the challenges with growth of most fish pathogens under routine culture conditions and the general lack of clinical breakpoints and laboratory standards for performing AST in fish. CAHFS has not previously received capacity building funding and is applying for this opportunity to grow our fish diagnostic program, including bacterial WGS sequencing capability, the development of a custom fish pathogen MALDI-TOF library to enhance rapid and accurate identification of fish bacterial organisms from clinical samples, and genomic AMR surveillance. Furthermore, with the capacity to perform WGS on microbial pathogens, CAHFS would be better able to contribute to animal and food pathogen sequencing efforts and participate in Vet-LIRN programs. The CAHFS system is uniquely qualified to assist with the Veterinary Laboratory Investigation Response Network (Vet-LIRN) mission and is at the forefront of monitoring antimicrobial resistance among livestock animals in coordination with the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Antimicrobial Use and Stewardship program.