BENEFITS VS. COSTS OF ANTIBIOITC MEDICATED FEED USE VS.WITHHOLDING FEED DURING BACTERIAL OUTBREAKS IN POND-REARED WARMWATER FISH

Patricia S. Gaunt* and Ganesh Karunakaran
 
 
Mississippi State University
College of Veterinary Medicine
Stoneville, MS 38776
gaunt@cvm.msstate.edu
 

Bacterial disease outbreaks in pond-reared fish are frequently experienced during growing season when fish are being fed to achieve maximal growth rate by fall.   When there is detection of disease associated with a bacteria susceptible to antibiotics, frequently farmers will treat with medicated feed. This presentation will assess the benefits vs. costs of treating with medicated feed, withholding feed, and unmedicated feed for control of mortality associated with bacteria in pond-reared fish.  

Early signs of bacterial disease in fish can range from anorexia to morbidity such as erratic swimming to acute mortality. When the fish are diagnosed, the farmer must decide on treatment options. Should he use medicated feed containing an antibiotic that the bacteria are susceptible to? Should he take the fish off   feed to break the fecal/oral cycle and decrease the continual transmission of the bacteria in the pond? Or should he feed unmedicated feed to the appetent fish so that he will have fewer, but larger fingerlings by fall? The advantages and disadvantages of these strategies will be explored in this presentation. A partial budget analysis will be performed to explore the economic effects of specific medicated and therapeutic treatments.