28th ANNUAL EASTERN FISH HEALTH WORKSHOP April 21-25, 2003 Results of Wild Fish Testing Associated With Spring Viremia of Carp Outbreak in North Carolina and Virginia Robert S. Bakal U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Warm Springs Regional Fish Health Center, 5308 Spring Street, Warm Springs, Georgia, 31830 In July of 2002 the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) received notification from USDA-APHIS that an outbreak of Spring Viremia of Carp (SVC) had occurred at a facility in North Carolina. The facility in question used surface waters to supply their ponds and dumped water from their ponds back into those same surface waters. Upon receiving this notification, the USFWS contacted the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission and a sampling plan was developed and implemented, which attempted to determine if the virus was present in the adjacent surface waters. Sampling was conducted in August of 2002.  The plan involved sampling the predominant cyprinid as well as any goldfish or koi that were collected at each site. The Warm Springs mobile laboratory was used to process the collected animals immediately, which ensured the quality of the samples. Each animal had kidney /spleen and intestinal samples taken and processed for viral isolation. In addition, blood samples were collected and sent to the Centre for the Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) laboratory in Weymouth England for a competitive inhibition ELISA assay that determined if there were anti-SVC viral antibodies present.  Several viruses were isolated from the collected samples, but only one exhibited cytopathic effect (CPE) consistent with a rhabdovirus. In addition, every virus isolate was tested by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with primers specific for SVC virus. The results were negative for all isolates tested. Based on the results provided by the CEFAS lab, bluehead chub and common carp did test positive for antibodies to the virus using the competitive immunoassay at several locations.  It should be noted that this serological test has not been validated for species other than carp and cross reactivity to North American rhabdoviruses has not been evaluated.  Because there is so little known about species susceptibility, antibody cross reactivity, cross species test appropriateness, and our inability to sample during appropriate times of year it was difficult to draw any firm conclusions from these data. Return to 28th Annual Eastern Fish Health Workshop Return to Leetown Science Center Home Page