Publication Abstract

The first report of viral haemorrhagic septicaemia  in farmed rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss in the United Kingdom

D.M. Stone, P.A. Tyson, J. Savage, G. Wood, M. Dodge, G. Woolford, P.F. Dixon, S.W. Feist and K. Way

Viral haemorrhagic septicaemia (VHS) was diagnosed in rainbow trout in the United Kingdom (UK) in May 2006. The VHS virus was isolated from a single rainbow trout farm site experiencing high mortality rates in the rainbow trout fry and was confirmed as VHS virus (VHSV) by serological and molecular biology tests. Phylogenetic analysis based on the complete G-gene sequence revealed that the isolate was closely related (99% nucleotide identity) to several Danish isolates from 1991-2000 and was assigned to VHSV genogroup Ia. The pathogenicity of the isolate was determined in infection experiments using rainbow trout fry. The cumulative mortalities reached 100%. by 12days post infection following waterborne challenge. This represents the first isolation of a pathogenic freshwater VHSV in the UK.

Reference

D.M. Stone, P.A.Tyson, J. Savage, G. Wood, M. Dodge, G. Woolford, P.F. Dixon, S.W. Feist and K. Way (2008) The First Report of Viral Haemorrhagic Septicaemia  in Farmed Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss in the United Kingdom. Journal of Fish Diseases,  31,  775-784