Abstract

This report shows that marine fish species like the turbot can undergo a natural VHS epizootic in aquaculture. It is not known whether the virus was introduced into the fish farm by infected fish or by contaminated water but the latter appears most likely. Thus it cannot be excluded that infectious virus may have reached the turbot production facility via outlet water from trout rearing units 25-35 km away.
The findings demonstrate turbot as a new host for VHSV under natural conditions. The risk of introducing infectious agents into new species by accident is very important in view of epizootics and control measures for VHS.