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Approval of chloramine-T as a drug to control
bacterial gill disease and external flexibacteriosis
on cold-, cool-, and warmwater fish

Chloramine-T is one of eight drugs identified as important to state and federal (public) hatcheries. Public hatcheries in the United States, including facilities culturing threatened and endangered fish, are severely restricted by the lack of legally approved medicinal drugs. The main purpose of this urgently needed drug is to reduce disease-related losses and improve production efficiency and product quality at public hatcheries.

The objective of this project is to conduct the regulatory studies required by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to allow the approved use of chloramine-T to treat fungal infections, external bacterial infections, and external parasitic infestations of freshwater fish.

The Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center (UMESC) is collaborating with partners to study efficacy (effectiveness for treatment of fish diseases) and target animal safety (safety of chloramine-T to treated fish). An extensive environmental assessment of chloramine-T is also being prepared at UMESC for submission to the FDA.

Approval of chloramine-T will allow legal use of this therapeutant in public hatcheries to control disease outbreaks.

Research on chloramine-T as a fish therapeutant was initiated in 1994 and is scheduled for completion at the end of 2002.

Principal Investigator: