Isolation and identification of viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV) from farmed rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in Iran

•This is the first report of isolation and identification of VHSV from rainbow trout in Iran.•Five of sixteen outbreaks of trout farms in Iran diagnosed as VHS disease from October 2014 to July 2015.•VHS virus caused up to 70% mortality in farmed trout.•Confirmatory diagnosis of VHS was made by conventional RT-PCR assays.•VHSV-positive farms located in two Iranian provinces.

Viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV) is a rhabdovirus that causes one of the most important fish diseases in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) production industry. During the present study from October 2014 to July 2015, the virus causing viral hemorrhagic septicemia (VHS) was isolated and identified in rainbow trout farms from five of sixteen farms experiencing mass mortalities in six provinces of Iran with major trout production. Cumulative mortalities at VHSV-positive farms ranged from 30 to 70%. Clinical signs of disease included exophthalmia, petechial hemorrhages in the mandible and around the eyes, a swollen abdomen and darkening of the integument, widespread petechiae of the musculature and pyloric regions, severe congestion of the kidney, and pale enlarged livers. In addition, histopathologic examinations of tissues showed severe lesions in muscle, kidney and liver, which were compatible with those already described for VHS. Furthermore, homogenates tissues of diseased fish induced cytopathic effects (CPE) in CHSE-214 cells, and confirmatory diagnosis of VHS was made by RT-PCR reactions. To our knowledge, this is the first report of isolation and identification of VHSV from farmed trout in Iran, which may have originated from Europe.

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