title: Heart and skeletal muscle inflammation of farmed salmon is associated with infection with a novel reovirus.
abstract: Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) mariculture has been associated with epidemics of infectious diseases that threaten not only local production, but also wild fish coming into close proximity to marine pens and fish escaping from them. Heart and skeletal muscle inflammation (HSMI) is a frequently fatal disease of farmed Atlantic salmon. First recognized in one farm in Norway in 1999, HSMI was subsequently implicated in outbreaks in other farms in Norway and the United Kingdom. Although pathology and disease transmission studies indicated an infectious basis, efforts to identify an agent were unsuccessful. Here we provide evidence that HSMI is associated with infection with piscine reovirus (PRV). PRV is a novel reovirus identified by unbiased high throughput DNA sequencing and a bioinformatics program focused on nucleotide frequency as well as sequence alignment and motif analyses. Formal implication of PRV in HSMI will require isolation in cell culture and fulfillment of Koch's postulates, or prevention or modification of disease through use of specific drugs or vaccines. Nonetheless, as our data indicate that a causal relationship is plausible, measures must be taken to control PRV not only because it threatens domestic salmon production but also due to the potential for transmission to wild salmon populations.
authors.affiliation: Center for Infection and Immunity, Columbia University, New York, New York, United States of America.
authors.forename: Gustavo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Palacios
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lovoll
authors.forename: Torstein
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tengs
authors.forename: Mady
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hornig
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hutchison
authors.forename: Jeffrey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hui
authors.forename: Ruth-Torill
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Kongtorp
authors.forename: Nazir
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Savji
authors.forename: Ana V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Bussetti
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Solovyov
authors.forename: Anja B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Kristoffersen
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Celone
authors.forename: Craig
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Street
authors.forename: Vladimir
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Trifonov
authors.forename: David L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Hirschberg
authors.forename: Raul
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rabadan
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Egholm
authors.forename: Espen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rimstad
authors.forename: W Ian
authors.initials: WI
authors.lastname: Lipkin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005393:Fish Diseases / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D007249:Inflammation / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology*; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D012087:Reoviridae / Q000276:immunology / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D020317:Salmo salar / Q000821:virology*