Development of autogenous vaccines for the control of amoebic gill disease in farmed salmon

阿米巴鳃病（AGD）是包括苏格兰和爱尔兰在内的世界各地养殖鲑鱼出现的一种新疾病。变形虫寄生在鱼的鳃上，引起炎症，可能导致鱼窒息。该项目汇集了斯特林大学水产养殖研究所具有AGD专业知识的科学家；苏格兰最大的养殖鲑鱼生产商Marine Harvest Scotland；以及Ridgeway生物制品有限公司，这是一家专门生产农场特有“自体”疫苗的中小企业。该联盟的目标是对在苏格兰杀死鱼类的变形虫进行取样、培养和鉴定，然后基于这些分离的变形虫开发疫苗。这些疫苗将在实验室环境中对鲑鱼进行实验试验。在实验室证明有效的实验性疫苗将用于给海网箱中的鱼接种疫苗，以评估疫苗在自然接触阿米巴原虫后对鱼的效力。

Amoebic gill disease (AGD) is a new disease emerging in farmed salmon across the world including Scotland and Ireland. The amoeba colonise the gills of fish causing inflammation which can lead to suffocation of the fish. The project brings together scientists with expertise in AGD at the Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling; Marine Harvest Scotland, the biggest producer of farmed salmon in Scotland; and Ridgeway Biologicals Ltd, an SME which specialises in the manufacture of farm-specific "autogenous" vaccines. The consortium aims to sample, culture and characterise amoebae which are killing fish in Scotland and then develop vaccines based on these isolated amoeba. The vaccines will be tested in salmon in experimental trials in a laboratory environment. Experimental vaccines that prove effective in the laboratory will be used to vaccinate fish in sea cages to assess vaccine efficacy in fish following natural exposure to amoeba.