Comparison of histopathology caused by Vibrio anguillarum and Vibrio ordalii in three species of Pacific salmon*

The histopathology associated with naturally acquired vibriosis in chum salmon, Oncorhynchus keta (Walbaum), fingerlings caused by Vibrio anguillarum was compared with that caused by infection with Vibrio ordalii. Pathogenesis of the two forms was found to be different. Bacteraemia caused by V. anguillarum occurred in the early stages with pronounced histopathological changes in blood, loose connective tissue, kidney, spleen, gills and posterior gastrointestinal tract. Bacterial cells appeared uniformly dispersed throughout the affected tissues but were most abundant in the blood. With V. ordalii, bacteraemia developed only in late stages of the disease and the concentration of bacterial cells per ml of blood was less than in the V. anguillarum infection by a factor of 102–103. Tissues with most pronounced changes were skeletal and cardiac muscle, anterior and posterior gastrointestinal tract and the gills. Vibrio ordalii observed in the tissues was not evenly dispersed but was present within tissue as colonies or aggregates of cells. The differences in pathology observed in naturally infected chum salmon were produced experimentally with each pathogen by waterborne exposure of chum; coho, Oncorhynchus kisutch (Walbaum); and chinook salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha (Walbaum). Severe decreases in circulating leucocytes accompanied bacteraemia caused by either bacterial species.