Infectious salmon anaemia virus - uptake and early infection

Infectious salmon anaemia (ISA) is an important disease of farmed Atlantic salmon. The disease and the causative agent, infectious salmon anaemia virus (ISAV), cause major losses for the industry mainly because of regulatory restrictions. No treatment exists and available vaccines do not give adequate protection. This projects aims at understanding how the virus induces disease in the host by investigating viral uptake and host responses related to this. All viruses, including ISAV, must cross mucosal barriers (skin, gills or gastrointestinal (GI) tract) to enter the host. The project will investigate these mucosal barriers and their potential as viral entryport. The knowledge provided by this project may also be important for other virus infections in fish.

Mattilsynet har begynt å bruke en metode fra prosjektet i soner rundt anlegg med ILA for å overvåke forekomst av virus.

Infectious salmon anaemia (ISA) is an important disease of farmed Atlantic salmon, and is listed as notifiable by the OIE. The disease and the causative infectious salmon anaemia virus (ISAV) may resurface at any time, resulting in major losses for the industry mainly caused by regulatory restrictions. No treatment exists and available vaccines do not give adequate protection. Knowledge on the risk of the avirulent HPR0 ISAV types transforming into virulent ISAV types is sparse. Thus, a more thorough understanding on how the virus induces disease in the host is needed. All viruses, including ISAV, must cross mucosal barriers (e.g. skin, gills or gastrointestinal (GI) tract) to enter the host, hence understanding viral uptake and host-pathogen interactions at the port of entry may provide a better basis for disease control. This project will give a better understanding of how viruses enters the host, the early stages of infection and the immune responses related to virus entry, using ISAV as a model for viral infection in fish. The knowledge provided by this project may also be important for other virus infections in fish. This is vital for establishing better vaccine strategies, including oral or immersion vaccines which will contribute to reduced losses in the industry, and even have positive implications for export of aquaculture products.