Investigation of VHSV - infection models with serological methods

The viral hemorrhagic septicemia (VHS) is a well known disease of salmonid fish and causes great economical losses, especially in rainbow trout farms. To date, only the detection of the augmentable virus count as a positive result for the presence of the disease. However, for the observation of VHS serological methods as indirect verification would be more advantageous. For a long time serological methods are well established for the indirect detection of viral diseases in mammals. Concerning fish, only few serological tests are described to detect VHS. For the validation of serological tests for the detection of VHSV, sufficient comparative data sets about the specificity and sensitivity are still lacking to date, as well as reproducible models for the infection of trout with the virus. Therefore, the aims of the presented work were a comparative study of a) several approaches to infect rainbow trout with VHSV and b) various methods to detect anti-VHSV-antibodies in the trout’s blood.