Investigation of round goby viral haemorrhagic septicaemia outbreak in New York

Abstract

Eleven viral haemorrhagic septicaemia virus (VHSV) genotype IVb isolates were sequenced, and their genetic variation explored to determine the source of a VHS outbreak on the eastern shore of Cayuga Lake. An active fish kill of round gobies (Neogobius melanostomus, Pallas) was intensively sampled at King Ferry, NY and nearby Long Point State Park in May 2017. Gross lesions observed on 67 moribund round gobies and two rock bass (Ambloplites rupestris, Rafinesque) included moderately haemorrhagic internal organs and erythematous areas on the head, flank, and fins. RT-qPCR tests for VHSV were positive for all 69 fish. Viral isolation on epithelioma papulosum cyprinid cells showed cytopathic effect characteristic of VHSV for six round goby samples from King Ferry. The complete nucleotide sequence of the VHSV IVb genomes of five Cayuga Lake round goby isolates were derived on an Illumina platform along with 2017 VHSV IVb isolates from round gobies collected from the following: Lake Erie near Dunkirk, NY; the St. Lawrence River near Clayton and Cape Vincent, NY; and Lake St. Lawrence near Massena, NY. The phylogenetic tree created from these aligned sequences and four other complete VHSV IVb genomes shows Cayuga Lake isolates are closely related to the Lake Erie isolates.