Much like humans during the holidays, fish seldom catch just one cold at a time. Yet much of what scientists know about fish health has been learned by studying pathogens one by one. Fish scientists at Auburn University and the USDA are challenging that approach through ongoing research on coinfection—cases where multiple pathogens infect a fish at once.
“Coinfections are bad,” deadpanned Benjamin LaFrentz, a molecular biologist at the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service. “Most studies are conducted on a single pathogen, which isn’t reality. In the real world, it’s never just one thing.”
Since 2021, the collaborative team has studied how combinations of bacterial and viral pathogens combine to attack warmwater fish, such as catfish, tilapia and largemouth bass. Their work seeks to understand not only whether coinfection worsens disease outcomes but also how and why…