Infection prevalence and viral load in pacific herring exposed to erythrocytic necrosis virus (ENV) at 3 temperatures

Viral erythrocytic necrosis (VEN) is a disease of marine and anadromous fishes, which is poorly understood, largely because its causative iridovirus, erythrocytic necrosis virus (ENV), is intractable to cell culture. Natural VEN epizootics and observations studies in wild populations suggest that temperature may be an important disease cofactor. Here, a controlled laboratory exposure study provides evidence for a direct relationship between temperature and the progression of viral erythrocytic necrosis (VEN) in Pacific herring. Waterborne exposure of Pacific herring to kidney homogenates containing ENV resulted in the establishment of infections, characterized by high infection prevalence (89%; 40/45) and mean viral loads (5.5 log10- [...]