ABSTRACT
The increase in Aquaculture production in the country has brought about fish diseases which are of bacterial origin. It is suspected that to promote growth, prevent and treat disease, some farmers have resorted to using antimicrobials that have concerns relating to the environment and public health. It is therefore important to devise other ways of disease prevention such as vaccine usage. In Zambia, the initiative to disease management in the sector, has been to develop an autogenous vaccine for Lactococcus garvieae and Aeromonas hydrophilia. The vaccine has been developed for use through the intraperitoneal route. However, during our field trials on Lake Kariba, we made significant observations such as the need for farmers to be explained to as regards the effect of anesthesia. The cage design made it difficult to administer the vaccine. Furthermore, the intraperitoneal route is not practical in smaller fish and may not be economically feasible to administer several times in the fish production cycle. Therefore, an alternative method for vaccinating fish on Lake Kariba would be to use an oral or immersion route. We have started developing the oral vaccine of Lactococcus garvieae and Aeromonas hydrophilia which will be administered via the feed. This study confirmed the efficacy of the Lactococcus garvieae intraperitoneal route administered vaccine in fish.