Association of viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus with epizootic hemorrhages of the skin in Pacific herring Clupea harengus pallasi from Prince William Sound and Kodiak Island, Alaska, USA

Only one-third of the Pacific hernng Clupea harengus pallasi expected to spawn in Prince William Sound (PWS), Alaska, USA, in sprlng 1993 were observed. Of these herring, 15 to 43 '% had external ulcers or subdermal hemorrhages of the skln and fins. A rhabdovirus identified as the North American strain of viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV) was isolated from affected herring and 1 Pacific cod Gadus macrocephalus with skin lesions from PWS, and from herring with similar lesions collected near Kodiak Island. No other pathogens were detected in the herring examined. Although VHSV may have been responsible for the skin lesions, there was no confirmed mass herring mortality observed in PWS; hence the actual cause of the reduced herring numbers is still unknown. The same strain of VHSV was subsequently isolated from captive juvenile herring collected from Auke Bay, Alaska, near Juneau, from herring in British Columbia, Canada, and from Puget Sound, Washington, USA. These findings suggest the virus is an opportunistic pathogen that is widely indigenous to Pacific herring populations in the Pacific Northwest and that herring are a significant marine reservoir for North American VHSV.