Virulence and persistence of rough and smooth forms of Aeromonas salmonicida inoculated into coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch)

Virulent isolates of Aeromonas salmonicida showed a majority of smooth colonies, while the attenuated isolates displayed mostly rough colonies. A lesion occurred at the site of inoculation when one of the rough forms was inoculated into yearling coho salmon, but few mortalities were recorded even though the rough forms were readily recovered from both the lesion and the kidney. The fish inoculated with the same dosage of smooth forms all died within 96 hr of inoculation.