Department of Natural Resources, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2010 Apr 13;5(4):e10156. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0010156.
Viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV) is a rhabdovirus found in fish from oceans of the northern hemisphere and freshwaters of Europe. It has caused extensive losses of cultured and wild fish and has become established in the North American Great Lakes. Large die-offs of wild fish in the Great Lakes due to VHSV have alarmed the public and provoked government attention on the introduction and spread of aquatic animal pathogens in freshwaters. We investigated the relations between VHSV dispersion and shipping and boating activity in the Great Lakes by sampling fish and water at sites that were commercial shipping harbors, recreational boating centers, and open shorelines. Fish and water samples were individually analyzed for VHSV using quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and cell culture assays. Of 1,221 fish of 17 species, 55 were VHSV positive with highly varied qRT-PCR titers (1 to 5,950,000 N gene copies). The detections of VHSV in fish and water samples were closely associated and the virus was detected in 21 of 30 sites sampled. The occurrence of VHSV was not related to type of site or shipping related invasion hotspots. Our results indicate that VHSV is widely dispersed in the Great Lakes and is both an enzootic and epizootic pathogen. We demonstrate that pathogen distribution information could be developed quickly and is clearly needed for aquatic ecosystem conservation, management of affected populations, and informed regulation of the worldwide trade of aquatic organisms.
病毒性出血性败血症病毒（VHSV）是一种弹状病毒，存在于北半球海洋和欧洲淡水的鱼类中。它已导致大量养殖和野生鱼类死亡，并在北美的五大湖中建立了起来。由于 VHSV，五大湖中的野生鱼类大量死亡，引起了公众的警觉，并促使政府关注淡水中水生动物病原体的引入和传播。我们通过在商业航运港口、娱乐划船中心和开阔的湖滨地带采集鱼类和水样，调查了 VHSV 传播与五大湖航运和划船活动之间的关系。使用定量逆转录聚合酶链反应（qRT-PCR）和细胞培养检测法，对鱼类和水样进行了个体 VHSV 分析。在 17 种鱼类的 1221 个样本中，有 55 个样本呈 VHSV 阳性，qRT-PCR 滴度差异很大（1 到 595 万 N 基因拷贝）。鱼类和水样中 VHSV 的检测结果密切相关，在 30 个采样点中有 21 个点检测到了病毒。VHSV 的发生与采样点的类型或与航运相关的入侵热点无关。我们的研究结果表明，VHSV 在五大湖广泛分布，是一种地方病和流行病病原体。我们证明，可以快速开发病原体分布信息，这对于水生生态系统保护、受影响种群的管理以及对全球水生生物贸易的知情监管非常有必要。
