Abstract

Enteric septicemia of catfish (ESC), a disease of channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus, was first reported in 1979 based on isolates obtained from 1976 through 1978. Channel catfish that had been preserved in 1970, labeled "nutritional cranial spot," and stored at the Stuttgart National Aquaculture Research Center were tested with Gram stains, histology, and immunohistochemistry to demonstrate that the specimens were actually infected by Edwardsiella ictaluri (the causative agent of ESC). A reexamination of catfish disease case records has indicated that ESC might have been present in Arkansas in 1969. Investigation of these old records and specimens has led to insights on the discovery and epidemiology of the disease.