PRV Causes HSMI - Wessel et al

Just out in August, 2017, Wessel et al have shown that PRV causes HSMI. With 80% of farmed fish carrying PRV, and DFO appealing a decision that denied them passing authority to fish farms to keep on doing it, HSMI is inevitable. This is bad news.

The title says it all: 

Infection with purified Piscine orthoreovirus demonstrates a causal relationship with heart and skeletal muscle inflammation in Atlantic salmon

You will recall that Alexandra Morton et al showed pretty much the same thing, along with the stats that showed upper Fraser River sockeye with PRV showed up on spawning areas at a much reduced percent compared with lower Fraser sockeye. In other words we need fish farms to stop putting in PRV carrying farmed fish. And, of course, Kristi Miller showed that PRV causes HSMI, too.

The link to the Morton/Routledge article on this site is:  http://fishfarmnews.blogspot.ca/2017/12/fish-farm-prv-infectskills-wild-salmon.html. Go take a look.

The direct link is: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0188793.

Here is the abstract of the Wessel article:

Abstract

Viral diseases pose a significant threat to the productivity in aquaculture. Heart- and skeletal muscle inflammation (HSMI) is an emerging disease in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) farming. HSMI is associated with Piscine orthoreovirus (PRV) infection, but PRV is ubiquitous in farmed Atlantic salmon and thus present also in apparently healthy individuals. This has brought speculations if additional etiological factors are required, and experiments focusing on the causal relationship between PRV and HSMI are highly warranted. A major bottleneck in PRV research has been the lack of cell lines that allow propagation of the virus. To bypass this, we propagated PRV in salmon, bled the fish at the peak of the infection, and purified virus particles from blood cells. Electron microscopy, western blot and high-throughput sequencing all verified the purity of the viral particles. Purified PRV particles were inoculated into naïve Atlantic salmon. The purified virus replicated in inoculated fish, spread to naïve cohabitants, and induced histopathological changes consistent with HSMI. PRV specific staining was demonstrated in the pathological lesions. A dose-dependent response was observed; a high dose of virus gave earlier peak of the viral load and development of histopathological changes compared to a lower dose, but no difference in the severity of the disease. The experiment demonstrated that PRV can be purified from blood cells, and that PRV is the etiological agent of HSMI in Atlantic salmon.

Here is the link to the article: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0183781.

This is my article on Kristi Miller's take on the problems in DFO: http://fishfarmnews.blogspot.ca/2017/01/key-document-dr-kristi-miller-diseases.html.

This has a link to the Kristi Miller article on PRV causes HSMI: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0171471.

Here is a link to an article that shows DFO has to be sued to prevent diseased Atlantics being put in BC waters by fish farms: http://fishfarmnews.blogspot.ca/2017/07/.