IRIDOVIRUS INFECTION IN MARINE FISHES-FIRST REPORT FROM

INDIA

A study conducted on several marine fish species consisting seabass, mullet,

milk fish and many species of low value fish (being used as trash fish in fish farms)
from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Puducherry (UT) were
found positive for Iridovirus infection by PCR. Some cases of clinical cases
leading to mass mortality among seabass fingerlings were also detected. Of the 85
fish samples, 36 (42 %) gave a positive results for Iridovirus infection. This is the
first report of iridovirus infection in fish from the country. The fish species include
Lates calcarifer, Mugil cephalus, Chanos chanos, Liza parsia and Liza tade,
Synodus indicus, Leiognathus splendens and Nemipterus sp. Majority of the cases
could be detected only by nested PCR indicating a very low viral load due to
possible sub-clinical infections. The nucleotide sequences of the amplified products
showed similarity to other known iridoviruses. These sequence data have been
submitted to NCBI GenBank databases under accession numbers FJ485600,
FJ655188-91.

Dr.K.P.Jithendran
Principal Scientist
 IRIDOVIRUS INFECTION IN MARINE FISHES-FIRST REPORT FROM INDIA

A study conducted on several marine fish species consisting seabass, mullet, milk fish
and many species of low value fish (being used as trash fish in fish farms) from Kerala, Tamil
Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Puducherry (UT) were found positive for Iridovirus
infection by PCR. Some cases of clinical cases leading to mass mortality among seabass
fingerlings were also detected. Of the 85 fish samples, 36 (42 %) gave a positive results for
Iridovirus infection. This is the first report of iridovirus infection in fish from the country. The
fish species include Lates calcarifer, Mugil cephalus, Chanos chanos, Liza parsia and Liza tade,
Synodus indicus, Leiognathus splendens and Nemipterus sp. Majority of the cases could be
detected only by nested PCR indicating a very low viral load due to possible sub-clinical
infections. The nucleotide sequences of the amplified products showed similarity to other known
iridoviruses. These sequence data have been submitted to NCBI GenBank databases under
accession numbers FJ485600, FJ655188-91.

Dr.K.P.Jithendran
Principal Scientist