The use of vaccines and chemicals in Italy

Italy is one of the major fish producing countries in the Mediterranean area. It produces 39,700 tonnes/year of trout, 19,700 tonnes/year of sea bass and sea bream, 1700 tonnes/year of eels and almost 5000 tonnes/year of other salt water and fresh water species. Several pathologies affect such species, therefore it is often necessary to undertake antibiotic treatments (tetracycline, flumequine, sulphonamides, amoxicillin) or to arrange vaccination programmes against the principal bacterial pathologies (vibriosis, pasteurellosis, red mouth disease, lactococcosis). Notwithstanding the several on-going research projects aimed at creating new types of vaccines, problems exist related to the high costs of product registration and the fact that the use of chemicals registered in other countries of the EU is very difficult.