Can water disinfection prevent the transmission of infectious koi herpesvirus to naïve carp? – a case report

Hygienic measures such as disinfection are important tools for the maintenance of fish health in aquaculture. While little information is available on the disinfection of water intended for fish containment, Huwa‐San^®, a disinfectant used in food and water industries, was used for daily treatment at concentrations of approximately 60 ppm over a total period of 3 months (experiment 1) with a 3‐week treatment‐free interval after 2 months (experiment 2). During this period, koi herpesvirus (KHV) was added to the water of two aquaria, one used as a normal contact control, the other one receiving daily water disinfectant treatments that prevented KHV infection of carp. In the second experiment, Huwa‐San^® treatment was interrupted and KHV infection was prevalent. However, when naïve fish were introduced to the same aquarium after re‐application of disinfectant, KHV could not be detected in those naïve fish. Whilst KHV could not be detected in samples where disinfectant had been applied, it was present in samples of naïve fish cohabiting with infection contact control animals which had undergone no disinfectant treatment over experiments 1 and 2. The results presented here show that water treatment with a disinfectant may prevent transmission of infectious KHV to naïve carp cohabited with infected carp.     

Anthropogenic spreading of anguillid herpesvirus 1 by stocking of infected farmed European eels,Anguilla anguilla (L.), in the Schlei fjord in northern Germany

The Schlei fjord in northern Germany is the recipient water of a comprehensive eel, Anguilla anguilla (L.), stocking programme. Since 2015, stocked eels become alizarin red S marked, but to date no control mechanism is implemented in this stock enhancement measure to prevent anthropogenic spreading of diseases. Consequentially, it was possible that farmed stocking cohorts of 2015 and 2016 (in total ca. 1040 kg) were subsequently tested positive for anguillid herpesvirus 1 (AngHV 1). For this study, 100 eels [total length (TL) 24.3–72.9 cm, age ca. 1–6 years] were caught in 2016 and investigated with regard to AngHV 1 infection, parasite load (Anguillicoloides crassus) and body conditions. 68% of the eels were found to be virus positive while larger specimens were more often infected. In addition, a fitted generalized linear model (area under the curve = 0.741) demonstrated that an increase in individual TL is accompanied with an increased risk of clinically relevant virus loads. Anguillicoloides crassus turned out to be an important stressor for eels, because parasite and virus load revealed a significant positive correlation. The results of this study evidently show the urgent need of a disease containment strategy for eel stocking programmes.     

Antiviral activity of exopolysaccharides from Arthrospira platensis against koi herpesvirus

Although koi herpesvirus (KHV) has a history of causing severe economic losses in common carp and koi farms, there are still no treatments available on the market. Thus, the aim of this study was to test exopolysaccharides (EPS) for its antiviral activity against KHV, by monitoring inhibition and cytotoxic effects in common carp brain cells. These substances can be easily extracted from extracellular algae supernatant and were identified as groups of sulphated polysaccharides. In order to reach this aim, Arthrospira platensis, which is well known for its antiviral activity of intra‐ and extracellular compounds towards mammalian herpesviruses, was investigated as standard organism and compared to commercial antiviral drug, ganciclovir, which inhibits the viral DNA polymerization. The antiviral activity of polysaccharides of A. platensis against KHV was confirmed in vitro using qualitative assessment of KHV life cycle genes, and it was found by RT‐PCR that EPS, applied at a concentration of >18 μg mL^?1 and a multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 0.45 of KHV, suppressed the viral replication in common carp brain (CCB) cells even after 22 days post‐infection, entirely. Further, this study presents first data indicating an enormous potential using polysaccharides as an additive for aquacultures to lower or hinder the spread of the KHV and koi herpesvirus disease (KHVD) in future.     

黑龙江地区鲤疱疹病毒3型的流行病学调查及其主要囊膜蛋白的抗原表位预测

2015-2016年对来自黑龙江地区46个养殖场送检的鲤鱼进行锦鲤疱疹病毒(Koi herpes virus,KHV)的分离鉴定,并应用DNAStar等软件对检出的阳性样本的主要囊膜蛋白(Major envelop protein,MEP)基因进行生物信息学分析。结果显示,KHV的检出率约为6.5%,3株阳性样本具有相同的MEP基因序列,称之为KHV-HLJ1516。MEP基因开放阅读框为771 bp,编码256个氨基酸,相对分子质量为28 280.58,等电点为8.40。对KHV-HLJ1516的MEP基因序列同源性分析表明,其与KHV-GZ11分离株仅有1个碱基不同,但并未导致氨基酸发生改变,碱基相似性为99%;而与HZ419分离株相比,KHV-HLJ1516的MEP基因有3个碱基发生突变,相应的氨基酸由Asn变为IIe。聚类分析结果显示,KHV-HLJ1516与KHV-GZ11处于同一分支,而HZ419位于另一分支。B细胞抗原表位预测结果显示,KHV-HLJ1516的MEP的抗原表位主要位于4~11,24~40,42~63,82~110,209~218,238~249氨基酸区段。     

鲤疱疹病毒2型和3型三重PCR检测方法的建立与应用

鲤疱疹病毒2型和3型主要感染鲫(金)鱼(Carassius auratus)、鲤鱼(Cyprinus carpio)和锦鲤(Cyprinus carpio haematopterus)及其杂交种,具有高度的传染性和致病性,对养殖鲤科鱼类危害严重。为了建立快捷、高效且能同时检测这2种类型鲤疱疹病毒的检测技术,本研究根据鲤疱疹病毒的DNA聚合酶基因(2、3型)、解旋酶基因(2型)和胸苷激酶基因(3型)的保守序列,设计了3对特异性引物,通过对三重PCR的反应条件进行优化,建立起鲤疱疹病毒2型和3型三重PCR检测方法,并运用该方法对实验室保存的鲫鱼和鲤鱼组织样品进行检测。结果显示,该三重PCR检测方法仅在鲤疱疹病毒阳性样品中扩增出3条特异性条带,表现出良好的特异性;以克隆的目的基因质粒为模板,进行10倍梯度稀释,该检测方法能检出的极限值为2.85×102 copies/μL,表现出较高的灵敏性;运用该方法检测122份鲫鱼和60份鲤鱼样品,其结果与运用国家标准(GB/T 36194-2018)和行业标准(SC/T 7212.1-2011)方法检测的结果一致。本研究表明,构建的三重PCR检测方法不仅具有较高的准确性和灵敏度,还能同时检测2种类型的鲤疱疹病毒,有效提高检测效率。     

Virucidal effects of various agents—including protease—against koi herpesvirus and viral haemorrhagic septicaemia virus

In a search for alternative, environmentally friendly and effective disinfecting agents, a commercially available protease—Neutrase^®—was tested in this work for inactivation of koi herpesvirus (KHV) and of viral haemorrhagic septicaemia virus (VHSV). For comparison, the stability of these viral pathogens in similar configurations at various pH values and concentrations of peracetic acid or quicklime, typically used for disinfection, was tested. Therefore, virus suspensions were incubated with various concentrations of different agents for 24 hr and the titre of the remaining infectious particles was determined by virus titration. Furthermore, the treatment of both viruses, with the agents at concentrations that were previously appointed as effective, was also examined in the presence of solid material (quartz sand). All procedures investigated in this study, including the protease treatment, were able to reduce the titre of KHV and VHSV below the detection limit of the titration. Although further studies are necessary, this is the first report of the application of a protease for the inactivation of the selected fish pathogens, demonstrating the great potential of the latter for disinfection.     

Koi herpesvirus and carp edema virus threaten common carp aquaculture in Croatia

Common carp (Cyprinus carpio) is a very important fish species for warm-water aquaculture in Croatia. All Croatian carp farms are subjected to a surveillance programme for the presence of koi herpesvirus (KHV), causing a deadly disease called koi herpesvirus disease (KHVD). However, there is no surveillance for other viral pathogens of importance like carp edema virus (CEV), a causative agent of koi sleepy disease (KSD). During regular testing within the KHVD surveillance programme, we tested samples for CEV simultaneously. The screening indicated possible outbreaks of KHVD and KSD. During 2016, KHVD broke out in an isolated area and soon thereafter a KHV eradication programme was successfully performed. However, during 2018 and 2019, two additional mortality events occurred in lakes in the southern part of Croatia during the spring. Samples from both events tested positive for CEV. An epidemiological investigation confirmed the introduction of infected carps from an infected farm to one of the lakes. To prevent the spreading of CEV into open waters, it is of utmost importance to introduce CEV testing before fish movement or to perform regular testing of all carp farms in the country to determine CEV prevalence for the purpose of implementation of control measures.     

Antibody response of two populations of common carp, Cyprinus carpio L., exposed to koi herpesvirus

Common carp, Cyprinus carpio L., exposed to koi herpesvirus (KHV) may become persistently infected and populations containing such virus-infected individuals may transmit the virus to other fish when co-habited. Detection of virus-infected fish in a population is thus critical to surveillance and control programmes for KHV. A study was therefore designed to detect anti-KHV serum antibodies, with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, in common carp following experimental exposures to KHV under varying environmental conditions. The study determined that a proportion of fish within a population experimentally exposed to KHV (at least 10–25%) develop high antibody titres (1/1600 or greater) to the virus, and this immunological response was detectable for several months (observed at the termination of the experiments at 65, 46 and 27 weeks post-exposure). Furthermore, this response was detected in one population of fish that did not succumb to a high level of mortality when maintained at water temperatures that were non-permissive for KHV. Elevating the water temperatures to permissive conditions for KHV resulted in recurrence of disease despite the presence of anti-virus antibodies, suggesting that serum antibodies alone are not protective under the conditions of our trials.     

一株猫疱疹病毒Ⅰ型（FHV-1）的分离鉴定及攻毒模型建立

从一只临床表现为流脓涕、打喷嚏的猫身上分离出一株猫疱疹病毒Ⅰ型(Feline herpesvirus typeⅠ,FHV-1),使用F81细胞进行分离,并通过PCR、透射电镜和糖蛋白D(gD)基因序列分析来鉴定病毒。通过PCR方法从猫的鼻分泌物中扩增出1125 bp的gD基因。序列分析表明,该分离株与从GenBank获得的其他FHV-1毒株属于同一家族。随后在接种猫鼻分泌物的F81细胞的培养上清中观察到有包膜和直径约120 nm左右的疱疹样病毒颗粒。将分离获得的FHV-1病毒感染2～3月龄蓝猫,成功建立动物实验模型,感染后的猫出现脓性的眼鼻分泌物,打喷嚏等临床症状,且一周内持续排毒。该分离株为FHV-1的病原学研究提供了重要的数据,也为猫鼻气管炎疫苗候选株的筛选和疫苗的研发奠定了基础。