“…S. agalactiae strain (serotype Ib, SA43) isolated from naturally infected Nile tilapia with clinical signs of streptococcosis in the northern region of Paraná State, Brazil, was used in this study (Salvador et al, 2005). The preparation of the S. agalactiae vaccine was described in previous studies (Ramos‐Espinoza, Cueva‐Quiroz, Yunis‐Aguinaga, Alvarez‐Rubio, et al, 2020; Ramos‐Espinoza, Cueva‐Quiroz, Yunis‐Aguinaga, & Moraes, 2020). Briefly, S. agalactiae colonies were grown in Brain Heart Infusion (BHI) broth and incubated in an incubator shaker (C24 Classic Series, New Brunswick Scientific, New Jersey, USA) at 150 rpm, 28°C, for 72 h. Bacterial suspension was treated with H 2 O 2 in order to obtain a final concentration of 5% and incubated at 4°C for 6 h. Then, the bacteria were centrifuged at 10,000 × g , for 10 min, at 4°C, the supernatant discarded and the pellet resuspended in sterile phosphate‐buffered saline (PBS).…”