Relation of Water Temperature to Flexibacter columnaris Infection in Steelhead Trout (Salmo gairdneri), Coho (Oncorhynchus kisutch) and Chinook (O. tshawytscha) Salmon
The effect of water temperature upon mortality from experimental infection by Flexibacter columnaris and on mean time to death was investigated in juvenile steelhead trout (Salmo gairdneri), coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch), and spring chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). Eight temperatures increasing from 3.9 to 23.3 C (39 to 74 F) by increments of 2.8 C (5 F) were studied. Fish were infected by the direct contact method whereby a suspension of the pathogen was added to the water. It was found that at temperatures of 9.4 C (49 F) and below, no deaths due to the experimental infection with F. columnaris occurred. At 12.2 C (54 F) mortality varied from 4 to 20% among the three species, and increased progressively with increasing temperature to 100% in steelhead trout and coho salmon at 20.5 C (69 F), and 70% in chinook salmon at that temperature. With all three salmonid species, an inverse linear relationship was found between water temperature and the log10 of the mean number of days from exposure to death. This means that as the temperature increased above 12.2 C (54 F), the disease process was progressively accelerated, resulting in a minimum time to death at 20.5 or 23.3 C (69 or 74 F) and a maximum at 12.2 C (54 F). The results indicate that under the conditions of these experiments, columnaris disease in salmonids was completely suppressed by water temperatures of 9.4 C (49 F) or below.