Isolation of a toga-like virus from farmed Atlantic salmon Salmo salar with pancreas disease

Abstract

Pancreas disease (PD) of farmed Atlantic salmon Salmo salar has been recognised in Scotland, Ireland, Norway, the USA, France and Spaln and can cause severe economlc loss Thls paper reports the ~solatlon, flom PD-affected f ~s h , of a virus with physicochemlcal characteristics and moiphology resembling members of the Togavirldae When Inoculated into Atlantic salmon post-smolts it causes pathological changes in pancreas h e a ~t and muscle tlssues which are ind~stinguishable from those piesent in fleld outbreaks of PD I t is proposed that the virus be named salmon pancreas disease vlrus (SPDV) KEY WORDS. Pancreas d ~s e a s e . PD Atlantlc salmon Toga-like SPDV