Small interfering RNA treatment can inhibit Cyprinid herpesvirus 3 associated cell death in vitro.

A Cyprinid herpesvirus 3 infection of carp induces a disease which causes substantial losses in carp culture. Here we present the use of a possible strategy for the management of the virus infection RNA interference based on small interfering RNAs. As a result of in vitro studies, we found that a mixture of short interfering RNAs specific for viral DNA enzyme synthesis and capsid proteins of the CyHV-3 can be a potential inhibitor of virus replication in fibroblastic cells. This gives the basis for the development of a combinatorial RNA interference strategy to treat CyHV-3 infections.