Abstract
Columnaris disease is a highly contagious infection that affects nearly all freshwater fish species worldwide. Grass carp, one of the most economically significant freshwater fish species in China, is particularly susceptible to the disease, leading to large-scale mortality. Flavobacterium columnare and F. covae are the primary pathogens causing columnaris disease in Chinese grass carp aquaculture. Herein, we compare mortality rates, replication rates of typical columnaris symptoms, histopathological changes, and bacterial content in the tissues of grass carp following infection using four challenge models. The mortality rate in grass carp challenged via intraperitoneal injection was 86.7%. All fish infected via intramuscular and intradermal injections died, while immersion resulted in lower mortality. Gill corrosion rates were 67%, 53%, and 87%, respectively, in the intramuscular injection, intradermal injection, and immersion groups. Correspondingly, skin ulceration rates were 75%, 91%, and 63%. However, surface symptoms in the intraperitoneal injection group were milder. Histopathological analysis revealed similar lesions in grass carp subjected to immersion, intramuscular, and intradermal infection, which differed from carp infected via intraperitoneal injection. The trends in bacterial loads in the gills and skin were similar, although the absolute bacterial content varied between tissues. Bacterial loads in the immersion and intraperitoneal injection groups were lower than those in the other groups. Based on these findings, we determined that the optimal model for simulating columnaris disease in grass carp is the intradermal injection of F. covae in 10-12 cm fish. The infection model generated via intradermal injection resembles natural F. covae infection and can serve as a good tool for evaluating the protective effect of anti-F. covae infection vaccines in grass carp.