The present study evaluated the capacity of three species to improve health status and growth performance of Nile Tilapia fed with high levels of soybean meal and challenged with . experiments showed that β-hemolysin and metalloprotease enzymes were produced throughout the exponential growth phase. experiments showed that 10 colony-forming units (CFUs)/ml of this pathogen killed 50% of control group fishes in 13 days. To evaluate the influence of strains on health status and growth performance in Nile Tilapia, 180 fishes (33.44 + 0.05 g) were distributed in 12 tanks of 200 L each, and animals were fed twice per day until satiety. 1) Control group without , 2)  sp1, 3) sp2, and 4) sp3 groups were formulated containing 10 CFU/g. After 40 days of feeding, the fishes were intraperitoneally injected with 1 ml of at 2 × 10 CFU/ml, and mortality was recorded. The results showed that cumulative mortality rate was significantly (p< 0.05) lower in the sp1 (25%), sp2 (5%), and sp3 (15%) groups, than the control group (50%). Weight gain was also significantly better (p< 0.05) in the sp1 (36%), sp2 (67%), and sp3 (55%) groups with respect to the control group (30%). In conclusion, functional diet formulated with high levels of soybean meal and supplemented with sp2 could be an alternative to protect Nile tilapia cultures from infections and improve fish growth performance.