Protective Effect of Clove Oil-Supplemented Fish Diets on Experimental Lactococcus garvieae Infection in Tilapia

The essential oils extracted from the four herbs, cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum), clove (Syzygium aromaticum), ginger (Zingiber officinale) and holy basil (Ocimum sanctum), were investigated for their antimicrobial activity and mode of action against Lactococcus garvieae, a fish pathogenic bacteria causing lactococcosis. Of all the tested oils, clove oil had the strongest inhibitory effect and exhibited a bactericidal mode of action against the pathogenic bacterium. When an intraperitoneal infection of tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) with L. garvieae was performed, the median lethal dose (LD50) was determined to be 1.78×102 CFU/fish. For an in vivo trial, no mortality was apparent in fish fed on the fish diets supplemented with 3% (w/w) of clove oil and with 0.5% (w/w) of oxytetracycline 5 d prior to the infection with L. garvieae. These results indicate that clove oil had a protective effect on experimental L. garvieae infection in tilapia and the potential to replace antibiotics for controlling the disease.