Host, agent and environment interactions affecting Nervous necrosis virus infection in Australian bass Macquaria novemaculeata.

Abstract

Australian bass Macquaria novemaculeata were challenged by immersion with nervous necrosis virus (NNV) at different ages and under controlled conditions to investigate factors affecting disease expression. Fish challenged at 3weeks of age with 103 TCID50 /ml and higher doses developed clinical disease; a lower dose of 102 TCID50 /ml resulted in incidence below 100% and 101 TCID50 /ml was insufficient to cause infection. Additionally, fish were challenged at 5, 6 and 13weeks of age at 17 and 21°C to assess the role of the age of the host and water temperature on disease expression. Although Australian bass challenged at all ages had evidence of replication of NNV, only those challenged at 3weeks of age (20 and 24days post-hatch [dph]) developed clinical disease. Higher water temperature had an additive effect on disease expression in larvae challenged at 24 dph, but it did not affect the disease outcome in older fish. Finally, isolates of NNV derived from fish with clinical or subclinical disease presentations caused similar cumulative mortality and clinical signs when larvae at 24 dph were challenged, suggesting that agent variation was not responsible for variation in clinical presentation in these field outbreaks of NNV infection.