Abstract

Infectious salmon anaemia (ISA) is an important viral disease affecting farmed Atlantic salmon caused by ISA virus (ISAV). A deeper understanding of the biophysical properties of ISAV is needed to design more efficient control measures. The aim of the study was to assess the in vitro survival of ISAV under varying water types and temperature. Multiple aliquots of four ISAV strains were dispensed in four water types and held at 5, 10, 15, and 20 degrees C. An aliquot was sampled every 7 to 15 days to assess viability of the virus and the viral titre was measured. The differences between survival rates of the ISAV genotypes were not significant but the differences with varying temperature and water types were statistically significant. A decrease in the survival rate of ISAV was observed when the temperature increased. ISAV could survive for extended periods in freshwater at low temperature but the survival of ISAV was greatly decreased in seawater notwithstanding water temperature. This study has shown that temperature and water type play an important role in the in vitro ISAV survival.