OIE Reference Laboratory Reports
Activities in 2011
Name of disease (or topic) for
which you are a designated OIE
Reference Laboratory:
Address of laboratory/
Infectious haematopoietic necrosis
Western Fisheries Research Center
6505 NE 65th Street,
Seattle,
WA 98115
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Tel.:
1-206-526-6587
Fax:
1-206-526-6654
e-mail address:
website:
Name (including Title and
Position) of Head of Laboratory
(Responsible Official):
Name(including Title and
Position) of OIE Reference
Expert:
jwinton@usgs.gov
http://wfrc.usgs.gov/
Lyman Thorsteinson
Director
James Winton
Chief, Fish Health Section
Name (including Title and
Position) of writer of this report
(if different from above):
Annual reports of OIE Reference Centres, 2011
1
Infectious haematopoietic necrosis
Part I: Summary of general activities related to the disease
1.
Test(s) in use/or available for the specified disease/topic at your laboratory
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2.
Virus isolation in cell culture (diagnosis/research 124 cases)
Virus identification using polyclonal and monoclonal antisera (diagnosis/research 0 cases)
Virus identification via hybridization with biotinylated probes (diagnosis/research 0 cases)
Virus identification via polymerase chain reaction (diagnosis/research 359 cases)
Virus identification and strain typing via sequencing G or N genes (diagnosis/research 537 cases)
Determination of viral load via quantitative PCR (diagnosis/research 457 cases)
Production and distribution of diagnostic reagents
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Testing and distribution of CHSE-214, EPC and other fish cell lines (6 cases)
Testing and distribution of polyclonal and monoclonal antisera to identify IHNV (3 cases)
Testing and distribution of biotinylated DNA probes to identify IHNV (0 cases)
Testing and distribution of reagents for polymerase chain reaction to identify IHNV (5 cases)
Part II: Activities specifically related to the mandate
of OIE Reference Laboratories
3.
International harmonisation and standardisation of methods for diagnostic testing or the
production and testing of vaccines
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4.
a)
Establishment and maintenance of a network with other OIE Reference Laboratories
designated for the same pathogen or disease and organisation of regular inter-laboratory
proficiency testing to ensure comparability of results
b)
Organisation of inter-laboratory proficiency testing with laboratories other than OIE
Reference Laboratories for the same pathogens and diseases to ensure equivalence of
results
Preparation and supply of international reference standards for diagnostic tests or vaccines
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Testing and distribution of reference cell lines
Testing and distribution of reference polyclonal and monoclonal antisera
Testing and distribution of reference reagents for standard and quantitative polymerase chain reaction assays
Research and development of new procedures for diagnosis and control
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Prepared revised IHN chapter for OIE Diagnostic Manual for Aquatic Animal Diseases
Reviewed revised VHS chapter for OIE Diagnostic Manual for Aquatic Animal Diseases
Revised virology portion of diagnostic manual for aquatic animal diseases for use by US agencies
Invited member of task force for development of national aquatic animal health program for US
Reviewed US surveillance plans for virus disease of fish
Development of new polymerase chain reaction primer sets for IHNV
Comparing genomic sequences of IHNV strains from throughout the world
Identification of neutralizing epitopes on the IHNV glycoprotein
Comparative challenge studies with various isolates of IHNV
DNA vaccine studies in fish for control of IHN via genetic immunization
Development of validated quantitative PCR assay for IHNV
Development of quantitative PCR for trout cytokine genes involved in innate resistance to IHNV
Development of strand-specific qPCR assay for messenger and genomic RNA species
Annual reports of OIE Reference Centres, 2011
Infectious haematopoietic necrosis
6.
Collection, analysis and dissemination of epizootiological data relevant to international disease
control
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7.
Provide data and professional advice to US Dept of Agriculture for OIE Annual Report.
Maintenance of a system of quality assurance, biosafety and biosecurity relevant to the
pathogen and the disease concerned
The WFRC represents a state-of-the-art center for work on infectious diseases of fish that includes over 16,000
square feet of laboratory space for virology, bacteriology, immunology, histology, parasitology, and molecular
biology. The laboratory also houses a 9,000 square foot wet laboratory supplied with pathogen-free, temperaturecontrolled (5-25C) fresh water to a total of more than 300 tanks of various sizes. The laboratory effluent is treated
with chlorine gas. Within the dry lab is a restricted access Biosafety Level 3 laboratory containing dry and wet
laboratories for work with exotic fish pathogens.
8.
Provision of consultant expertise to OIE or to OIE Member Countries
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Provided advice to laboratory in China
Provided advice to laboratory in India
Provided advice to laboratory in Tunisia
Provided advice to laboratory in Korea
Provided advice to laboratory in Mexico
Provision of scientific and technical training to personnel from other OIE Member Countries
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Hosted personnel from laboratories in Canada, Norway, Japan, Korea.
10. Provision of diagnostic testing facilities to other OIE Member Countries
None.
11. Organisation of international scientific meetings on behalf of OIE or other international bodies
None.
12. Participation in international scientific collaborative studies
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Participated in collaborative study with personnel from Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Canada.
Participated in collaborative study with personnel from National Veterinary Laboratory, Denmark.
Participated in collaborative study with personnel from National Veterinary Laboratory, Norway.
13. Publication and dissemination of information relevant to the work of OIE (including list of
scientific publications, internet publishing activities, presentations at international conferences)
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Scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals
Hart, L., G.S. Traxler, K.A. Garver, J. Richard, J.L. Gregg, C.A. Grady, G. Kurath and P.K. Hershberger (in press)
Larval and juvenile Pacific herring Clupea pallasii are not susceptible to infectious hematopoietic necrosis. Dis.
Aquat. Org.
Kurath, G. and J. Winton (2011) Complex dynamics at the interface between wild and domestic viruses of finfish.
Curr. Opin. Virol. 1:73-80.
Annual reports of OIE Reference Centres, 2011
3
Infectious haematopoietic necrosis
Kurath, G., K.A. Garver, M.K. Purcell, M.M. Peñaranda, R. Life and S.Rudakova (in press) Host specificity and
ecology of infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) in Pacific salmonids. Proceedings of the Third USRussia Bilateral Conference on Aquatic Animal Health.
Park, J.W., C.H. Moon, A.W. Wargo, M.K. Purcell, M.I. Thoulouze, M. Brement and G. Kurath (2011) Restricted
growth of the U genogroup IHNV in rainbow trout cells is linked to casein kinase II activity. J. Fish Dis. 34:115129
Penaranda, M.M., A.R. Wargo and G. Kurath (2011) In vivo fitness correlates with host-specific virulence of
Infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) in sockeye salmon and rainbow trout. Virology 417:312-319.
Purcell, M.K., I.S. Marjara, W. Batts, G. Kurath and J.D. Hansen (2011) Transcriptome analysis of rainbow trout
with high and low virulence strains of Infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus. Fish Shellfish Immunol. 30:84-93.
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Annual reports of OIE Reference Centres, 2011