show details 15 Jan (1 day ago) |
ABALONE VIRAL GANGLIONEURITIS - AUSTRALIA: (TASMANIA)
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A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.isid.org>
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>
Date: 15 Jan 2011
Source: ABC.net.au [edited]
<http://www.abc.net.au/news/
Abalone farm closed after virus outbreak
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An abalone farm on Tasmania's east coast has tested positive for a highly
contagious abalone virus [abalones are edible sea snails. - Mod.SH].
Abalone viral ganglioneuritis affects the nervous systems of abalone,
causing weakness and death.
The Department of Primary Industries has closed the farm and a processing
facility. A biosecurity plan has been put in place to contain the outbreak,
which the department says has not spread into the wild.
There are no health risks for people handling or eating abalone affected by
the virus.
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[While there are no health associated risks to eating or handling infected
abalone, there is an economic impact to the producer and possibly to the area.
Ganglioneuritis is an interesting condition causing inflammation in the
nervous tissue, which swells. The result is curling of the abalone foot and
swelling of the mouth. Thus, the organism cannot eat and loses its grip on
the rocks it so depends on.
Abalone viral ganglioneuritis (AVG) is a highly virulent herpes-like virus,
undescribed in Australia before 2005, and still not well characterized. The
virus affects the nervous tissue of abalone and rapidly causes death. The
virus can be spread through direct contact, through the water column
without contact, and in mucus that infected abalone produce before dying.
The virus is thought to survive only a short time when out of a moist
environment.
AVG affects both blacklip and greenlip abalone and hybrids of these 2.
In June 2006, coastal waters off Port Fairy were declared a Control Area
under the Victorian Livestock Disease Control Act (1994), as the disease is
listed as notifiable. Fishing and diving activities in the Control Area
were restricted to minimize the risk of human activity transferring the
disease to unaffected abalone populations elsewhere in the State.
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