The Effect of an Attenuated Live Vaccine against Salmonid Rickettsial Septicemia in Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar) Is Highly Dependent on Water Temperature during Immunization

Abstract

Salmonid Rickettsial Septicemia (SRS), caused by the bacterium Piscirickettsia salmonis, is the main reason for antibiotic usage in the Chilean aquaculture industry. In 2016, a live attenuated vaccine (ALPHA JECT LiVac® SRS, PHARMAQ AS) was licensed in Chile and has been widely used in farmed salmonids since then. In experimental injection and cohabitation laboratory challenge models, we found that the vaccine is effective in protecting Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) for at least 15 months against P. salmonis-induced mortality. However, the protection offered by the vaccine is sensitive to temperature during immunization. Fish vaccinated and immunized at 10 °C and above were well protected, but those immunized at 7 °C and 8 °C (the lower end of the temperature range commonly found in Chile) experienced a significant loss of protection. This temperature-dependent loss of effect correlated with the amount of vaccine-strain RNA detected in the liver the first week after vaccination and with in vitro growth curves, which failed to detect any growth at 8 °C. We found that good vaccine efficacy can be restored by exposing fish to 15 °C for the first five days after vaccination before lowering the temperature to 7 °C for the remaining immunization period. This suggests that maintaining the correct temperature during the first few days after vaccination is crucial for achieving a protective immune response with ALPHA JECT LiVac® SRS. Our results emphasize the importance of temperature control when vaccinating poikilothermic animals with live vaccines.