Diseases of nsh Viral diseasesViral haemorrhagic septicaemia

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Signs of disease
Important: animals with disease may show one or more of the signs below, but disease may still be present in the absence of any signs.

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Disease signs at the farm level

Outbreaks are seen in farmed trout and other salmonids, as well as in farmed turbot and Japanese flounder. Initial outbreak (acute) stage: high mortality occurs very rapidly

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Viral haemorrhagic septicaemia in rainbow trout. Note pale colour of stomach region, pinpoint haemorrhages in fatty tissue, and pale gills.
Source: T Hstein

Disease signs at the tank and pond level

Initial outbreak (acute) stage: lethargy separation from shoal swimming at pond edges Lingering (chronic) stage: swimming with rotating movement around body axis (i.e. spinning) Behavioural (nervous) stage: low mortality

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Clinical signs of disease in an infected animal

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Initial outbreak (acute) stage: slight darkening of body colour exophthalmus (pop eye) bleeding around eyes bleeding under skin around base of pectoral and pelvic fins skin ulceration pale gills with pinpoint haemorrhages
Viral haemorrhagic septicaemia in rainbow trout. Note swollen stomach and pop eye.
Source: T Hstein

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Sourced from AGDAFF (2008) Aquatic Animal Diseases Signicant to Australia: Identication Field Guide.Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Canberra. Commonwealth of Australia 2008 This work is copyright. It may be reproduced in whole or in part subject to the inclusion of an acknowledgment of the source and no commercial usage or sale.

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FORESTRY

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Lingering (chronic) stage: intense darkening of skin exophthalmus (pop eye) gills greywhite (anaemic) Behavioural (nervous) stage: most external signs of acute and chronic stages are no longer apparent

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Gross signs of disease in an infected animal

Initial outbreak (acute) stage: swollen abdomen, marked by ascites (swollen abdomen from accumulated fluid) pinpoint haemorrhages in the fatty tissue, intestine, liver, swim bladder and muscle Lingering (chronic) stage: interior of abdomen particularly pale liver pale, with evidence of haemorrhages on surface Behavioural (nervous) stage: as for acute and chronic stages, above

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Disease agent
Viral haemorrhagic septicaemia (VHS) virus is a rhabdovirus of the genus Novirhabdovirus. Several genogroups/genotypes of the virus have been identified from different environments in different parts of the world: continental Europefreshwater group (highly pathogenic to rainbow trout) North Americamarine group affecting a range of free-living marine and cultured species (highly pathogenic in Pacific herring) northern Europe marine strainmarine strain affecting free-living and cultured marine and freshwater species (low pathogenicity in rainbow trout) a fourth genotype has been suggestedSnow et al. (1999) found isolates from the Baltic Sea that differed from the freshwater or North Sea isolates.

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Sourced from AGDAFF (2008) Aquatic Animal Diseases Signicant to Australia: Identication Field Guide.Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Canberra. Commonwealth of Australia 2008 This work is copyright. It may be reproduced in whole or in part subject to the inclusion of an acknowledgment of the source and no commercial usage or sale.

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Host range
Fish known to be susceptible to VHS: Atlantic cod* Atlantic salmon* blue whiting* brook trout* brown trout* chinook salmon* coho salmon* dab* English sole* European eel* European flounder* four-bearded rockling* grayling* Greenland halibut* haddock* herring* Japanese flounder, Hirame strain* lesser argentine* North Pacific hake* Norway pout* Pacific cod* Pacific herring* Pacific salmon* Pacific sandlace* pike* pilchard* plaice* poor cod* rainbow trout* rockling* sablefish* shiner perch* Spanish barbel* sprat* turbot* (Gadus morhua) (Salmo salar) (Micromesistius poutassou) (Salvelinus fontinalis) (Salmo trutta) (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) (Oncorhynchus kisutch) (Limanda limanda) (Pleuronectes vetulus) (Anguilla anguilla) (Platichthys flesus) (Rhinonemus cimbrius) (Thymallus thymallus) (Reinhardtius hippoglossoides) (Melanogrammus aeglefinus) (Clupeidae) (Paralichthys olivaceus) (Argentina sphyraena) (Merluccius productus) (Trisopterus esmarki) (Gadus macrocephalus) (Clupea pallasi) (Oncorhynchus spp.) (Polygonella myriophylla) (Esox lucius) (Sardinops sagax) (Pleuronectes platessa) (Trisopterus minutus) (Oncorhynchus mykiss) (Gaidropsarus spp.) (Anoplopoma fimbria) (Cymatogaster aggregata) (Barbus graellsi) (Sprattus sprattus) (Psetta maxima)

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* naturally susceptible (other species have been shown to be experimentally susceptible)

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Sourced from AGDAFF (2008) Aquatic Animal Diseases Signicant to Australia: Identication Field Guide.Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Canberra. Commonwealth of Australia 2008 This work is copyright. It may be reproduced in whole or in part subject to the inclusion of an acknowledgment of the source and no commercial usage or sale.

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walleye pollock* whitefish* whiting* whiting* European seabass golden trout lake trout

(Theragra chalcogramma) (Coregonus spp.) (Merlangius merlangus) (Sillago ciliata) (Dicentrarchus labrax) (Salmo aguabonita) (Salvelinus namaycush)

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VHS virus can be isolated from marine fish in Europe and the North Pacific (including cod, sprats, herring, haddock and turbot).

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Presence in Australia
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Epidemiology
Variant strains of the virus are responsible for disease in different parts of the globe, affecting hosts from different environments. Rainbow trout appear to be less susceptible to infection from marine strains of the virus. Younger fish are generally more susceptible to disease. Water temperature at outbreak is generally between 4C and 14C. From 1C to 5C, there is an extended course of disease with low daily but high accumulated mortality, whereas temperatures between 14C to 18C result in a short disease event with modest mortality. Transmission is horizontal directly through the water, from virus shed with faeces, urine (predominantly) and sexual fluids of infected or carrier fish. The virus can also be spread in the faeces of birds that have consumed infected fish and on equipment that has been in contact with water from infected fish. Heightened stress caused by overcrowding, extreme temperatures or overfeeding will greatly reduce an animals resistance to infection. Mortality can range from 10% to 80% depending on the stage of disease, water temperature, age of fish and other stressors (highest mortality rates occur in the initial acute stage, with lowest mortality rates in the nervous stage). VHS is now thought to have existed in the marine environment before its apparent transfer to freshwater, where it became virulent in trout. It has been suggested that the European freshwater isolates of VHS virus originated from fish in the northern Pacific and Atlantic oceans. The mechanism of transfer was possibly through the feeding of marine feed fish to cultured freshwater species (Hedrick et al. 2003).
* naturally susceptible (other species have been shown to be experimentally susceptible)

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Sourced from AGDAFF (2008) Aquatic Animal Diseases Signicant to Australia: Identication Field Guide.Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Canberra. Commonwealth of Australia 2008 This work is copyright. It may be reproduced in whole or in part subject to the inclusion of an acknowledgment of the source and no commercial usage or sale.

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Differential diagnosis
The differential diagnostic table and the list of similar diseases appearing at the bottom of each disease page refer only to the diseases covered by this field guide. Gross signs observed might well be representative of a wider range of diseases not included here. Therefore, these diagnostic aids should not be read as a guide to a definitive diagnosis, but rather as a tool to help identify the listed diseases that most closely account for the gross signs.

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Similar diseases
Infectious haematopoietic necrosis, infectious pancreatic necrosis, infectious salmon anaemia, Koiherpesvirus disease, furunculosis.

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Sample collection
Because of uncertainty in differentiating diseases using only gross signs, and because some aquatic animal disease agents might pose a risk to humans, you should not try to collect samples unless you have been trained. Instead, you should phone your state or territory hotline number and report your observations. If samples have to be collected, the agency taking the call will advise you on what you need to do. Local or district fisheries/veterinary authorities could advise you on sampling.

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Emergency disease hotline

For your state or territory emergency disease hotline number, see Whom to contact if you suspect a disease.

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Further reading
The currently accepted procedures for a conclusive diagnosis of VHS are summarised at www.oie.int/eng/normes/fmanual/A_00022.htm. This hyperlink was correct and functioning at the time of publication.

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Sourced from AGDAFF (2008) Aquatic Animal Diseases Signicant to Australia: Identication Field Guide.Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Canberra. Commonwealth of Australia 2008 This work is copyright. It may be reproduced in whole or in part subject to the inclusion of an acknowledgment of the source and no commercial usage or sale.

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