Assigning cause for emerging diseases of aquatic organisms

Abstract

Resolving the cause of disease (= aetiology) in aquatic organisms is a challenging but essential goal, heightened by increasing disease prevalence in a changing climate and an interconnected world of anthropogenic pathogen spread. Emerging diseases play important roles in evolutionary ecology, wildlife conservation, the seafood industry, recreation, cultural practices, and human health. As we emerge from a global pandemic of zoonotic origin, we must focus on timely diagnosis to confirm aetiology and enable response to diseases in aquatic ecosystems. Those systems' resilience, and our own sustainable use of seafood, depend on it. Synchronising traditional and recent advances in microbiology that span ecological, veterinary, and medical fields will enable definitive assignment of risk factors and causal agents for better biosecurity management and healthier aquatic ecosystems.

Keywords: Bradford Hill criteria; Koch’s postulates; aetiology; aquatic disease; diagnosis.