Detection of White Spot Syndrome Virus in Cultured Penaeid Shrimp using Histopathological Observation and Polymerase Chain Reaction

Abstract

White spot syndrome virus (WSSV) in Egyptian shrimp is poorly understood and there is no available information regarding possible WSSV infection of native shrimp in Egypt. Therefore, the main goal of this work was to diagnose WSSV in Egyptian shrimp by histopathological examination and molecular based methods (PCR). A total of 90 shrimp samples showed circular white patches in the cuticle were collected from the local fish markets of high shrimp producing region in three provinces of Egypt. The three regions located at the south coast of Mediterranean Sea, including El-Arish, Dumiatta and Kafr El-sheikh. Histopathological examination of different organs showed intranuclear basophilic inclusion bodies. Single-step PCR results with primers specific for the gene encoding VP28 gave a predicted amplified product at 677 bp. The primer pair designed from WSSV genomic sequence yields a 677 bp fragment by agarose gel electrophoresis.