Viruses in coldwater ornamental fish
Coldwater and tropical fish are the third most popular pet in the UK after cats and dogs. Over 3 million homeowners have a pond in their garden and many of these are stocked with fish, some of which, like koi carp, are very expensive. As Keith Way describes in this article in Microbiology Today (pdf) a whole host of viruses are in the environment just waiting to infect them with harmful diseases:
With the discovery of non-filterable disease agents, or viruses, in the late 19th century there came a greater realization of the role that viruses may play in infectious diseases of fish. However, the breakthrough for fish virology came with the general developments in virological techniques that blossomed in the 1950s and 60s. In particular, visualization of viruses by electron microscopy, improvements in protein and nucleic acid analysis and, most significantly, the isolation of viruses on continuous (immortal) fish cell lines. At the same time, aquaculture around the world developed in the 1960s and 70s, and farming of fish and fish-keeping rapidly increased. With these developments and, more recently, the global increase in trade in ornamental fish there has been an increase in new diseases and the emergence of serious virus diseases. Viruses that have caused serious but isolated disease outbreaks in cyprinid species and some ictalurid (catfish) species, and may affect coldwater ornamental fish, include aquareoviruses, coronaviruses, poxviruses and iridoviruses. More serious disease epidemics in ornamental species have been caused by rhabdoviruses and herpesviruses.
Tags: Biology, Emerging disease, Environment, fish, Microbiology, pets, Science, Vaccines, Virology, virus
