Research enables sustainable fish production
Common diseases of farmed salmon and rainbow trout fish are the Salmon Pancreas Disease (SPD) and the Sleeping Disease (SD), which are considered to be caused by alpha viruses. Although these SAV diseases have been recently characterised, little is known about the prevalence of these diseases due to lack of effective diagnostic means. Addressing this need the project developed efficient diagnostic tests for the determination of the prevalence of SAV infections in Europe. The obtained results are expected to significantly contribute to a better understanding of the pathogenesis and epidemiology aspects of these diseases. Furthermore, they may be used for formulation of effective control strategies against these economically critical infections in fisheries. For the purposes of the SPD/SD_DIAGNOSIS project the vertical transmission of SAV in rainbow trout was experimentally demonstrated. By employing samples of virus-free female and male lots, researchers reproduced the SDV through intra-peritoneal injections. It was showed that the virus presence lasted longer in the reproductive tissues than in sera. Aided by advanced methodologies, the project work succeeded in elucidating that disinfection of eyed eggs was found ineffective in preventing vertical transmission of SDV. This finding is expected to enable researchers in assessing the zoosanitary risks that are highly related to with transfer of fertilised eggs regarding alphavirus of salmonids. These results can be also be applied to the study of vertical transmission of SPDV in Atlantic salmon.
