Disease Ecology
Disease Ecology
Gizzard shad infected with
viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV)
viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV)
Fish and their pathogens co-exist in a diverse aquatic environment. Our scientists use a combination of field-based pathogen surveillance and controlled laboratory-based research studies to forecast and mitigate impacts to hatchery and wild aquatic animal populations. We investigate how environmental stressors exacerbate disease and apply pathogen biosurveillance tools including environmental DNA.
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Partners - FHP
For more than five decades the WFRC Fish Health Program has worked with partners to provide research findings to managers of aquatic resources. Those partners form a network of colleagues, co-investigators, and customers. Our partners include Department of the Interior bureaus, tribal and state fisheries agencies, other federal partners and the private sector.
Fish Health Program Lead Scientists and Areas of Expertise
Lead Scientists - Expertise
Species Studied by the Fish Health Program
List of species studied by the Fish Health Program. These species include bacteria, fish, parasites, and viruses. The list contains both common and scientific names. Descriptions of species and studies can be found under the "Related Science" tab.
Tribal Collaboration - Fish Health Program (FHP)
The Fish Health Program has a strong commitment to respond to requests for research and technical support from Tribal fisheries agencies.
Zebrafish (Danio rerio) - FHP
This fish species has become a powerful model organism for the study of vertebrate biology, developmental and genetic research, and more recently infectious disease studies.
Detection Protocols - Renibacterium salmoninarum
Protocols for the Detection of Renibacterium salmoninarum in salmon
Molecular Characterization of Novel Fish Viruses from Technical Assistance Cases
Viruses occur in many cultured and wild stocks of fish. William Batts collaborates with many government, state, tribal, and private research and diagnostic laboratories to aid in identification of these unknown replicating agents of uncertain pathogenicity. Typically, viruses can be replicated in a variety of fish cell lines and investigated at several temperatures to see if the cytopathic effect...
Non-lethal Detection of Skin Injuries in Juvenile Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha by Fast Green FCF Dye
In fish, as in humans, an intact epidermis is critical to defense against entry of pathogens into the skin. Macroscopic examination of scale loss is the principal method of evaluating physical damage to juvenile salmonids out-migrating through hydroelectric dams in the Snake and Columbia Rivers, and in fish subjected to capture and handling procedures in locations such as hatcheries, fish bypass...
Ichthyobodo - FHP
Fish Diseases - Ichthyobodo
Investigation and Disease Prevention of Spring Viremia of Carp Virus (SVCV)
There has been long history of disease outbreaks and economic losses in wild and farmed carp species due to SVCV. Formerly thought to be restricted to Europe and Asia, SVCV was detected for the first time in North America from diseased koi at a North Carolina fish farm in 2002, and there were extensive eradication efforts with 135,000 fish euthanized in addition to the ~15,000 that died from the...
Research on Emerging Viruses of Salmonids - FHP
At the request of the State of Washington, the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission (NWIFC) and the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the Western Fisheries Research Center has been providing technical advice and conducting research regarding the emergence of IHNV in the watersheds of coastal Washington State.
Reference Laboratory Service - FHP
The Fish Health Section provides reference laboratory services to identify viral pathogens submitted by staff from the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission (NWIFC) fish health laboratory.