A survey of salmon gill poxvirus (SGPV) in wild salmonids in Norway.

In 2016, the Norwegian health monitoring programme for wild salmonids conducted a real-time PCR-based screening for salmon gill poxvirus (SGPV) in anadromous Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus L.), anadromous and non-anadromous Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) and trout (Salmo trutta L.). SGPV was widely distributed in wild Atlantic salmon returning from marine migration. In addition, characteristic gill lesions, including apoptosis, were detected in this species. A low amount of SGPV DNA, as indicated by high Ct-values, was detected in anadromous trout, but only in fish cohabiting with SGPV-positive salmon. SGPV was not detected in trout and salmon from non-anadromous water courses, and thus seems to be primarily linked to the marine environment. This could indicate that trout are not a natural host for the virus. SGPV was not detected in Arctic char but, due to a low sample size, these results are inconclusive. The use of freshwater from anadromous water sources may constitute a risk of introducing SGPV to aquaculture facilities. Moreover, SGPV-infected Atlantic salmon farms will hold considerable potential for virus propagation and spillback to wild populations. This interaction should therefore be further investigated.

Ectopic epithelial cell clusters in salmonid intestine are associated with inflammation.

An epizootic incidence of intestinal adenocarcinomas was reported in brood fish of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) in 2009. The condition was associated with a specific diet inducing enteritis and morphological changes. Here, two field trials of fish up to slaughter size were initiated. In Trial 1, two different feed recipes were used. Feed I was predominantly based on marine ingredients, whereas plant ingredients were limited to soy protein concentrate and wheat. Feed II was lower in fishmeal and without soya protein, which was substituted with plant proteins from other sources. In Trial 2, a commercial feed (Feed III) was included. No macroscopic tumours were observed in 300 fish (Trial 1). At the end of both trials, samples from five different segments of the gastrointestinal tract of a total of 39 fish were investigated with morphological methods. Here, we show the presence of ectopic proliferating epithelial cells only occurring in inflamed intestine and predominantly in the second segment of the mid-intestine. Presence of ectopic epithelial cells in submucosal inflammatory foci may indicate early stages in tumorigenesis, but other possibilities such as proliferative enteric disorders cannot be excluded. Together with inflammation, carcinogenesis should be a focus of investigation in future feed trials.