Jack Gilbert

Aquaculture is responsible for producing almost half of the world’s seafood. As the global climate changes and population continues to increase, we must prepare for increased disease in aquatic animals, a risk compounded by high-density aquafarms that are necessary to keep up with demand. This review will highlight major microbial threats to aquaculture and current and alternative solutions to these threats with consideration for the accessibility of the proposed solutions. Molluscs are ideal for sustainable aquaculture because they require less inputs than most other protein sources, and through filter feeding, they improve local ecosystem health. However, they are also plagued by microbial diseases, and rising water temperatures will only exacerbate this problem by enhancing pathogen survival, range, and growth. At the same time, microbial treatments hold great promise for reducing disease burden and increasing yield and food safety. In order to combat threats to sustainable aquaculture, it is critical to monitor and predict microbial behavior in coastal water and animal populations, explore sustainable microbial treatment options such as probiotics and phage therapy, reduce reliance on antimicrobials, and develop mitigation strategies through partnership with mollusc farmers, government regulators, industry, academic researchers, and indigenous peoples.

A study from Long et al. shows that many pathogens that cause surgical site infections during spine surgery come from the patient’s own microbiome, suggesting a paradigm shift in the understanding of surgical site infections that questions the effectiveness of current enhanced sterility and antibiotic protocols.