SRAC Publication No.

4702

VI
PR
February 2004

Channel Catfish Virus Disease

Alvin C. Camus*

Channel catfish virus disease Aquatic Diagnostic Laboratory at gate along the sides of hatching
(CCVD) was first recognized as a the Thad Cochran National troughs or ponds and hang
disease problem during the early Warmwater Aquaculture Center motionless in a head-up, tail-
days of commercial catfish farm- in Stoneville, Mississippi, from down position.
ing. During the late 1960s, high 1997 to 2002. Visual inspection of diseased fish
mortalities were reported in chan- usually reveals some or all of the
nel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) fin- Clinical signs of disease following signs: a swollen
gerlings and fry shortly after trans- abdomen; distension of the vent
fer from the hatchery to fry ponds. Channel catfish virus disease
area; and bulging eyes (Fig. 1).
The causal agent was identified as occurs in fry and fingerlings less
Pinpoint hemorrhages may be
a herpesvirus in 1971. Today the than a year old and less than 6
seen at the bases of fins, on the
virus is present in all catfish grow- inches long, both in the hatchery
ventral abdomen, and within
ing regions of the United States. and in ponds. The first sign is a
muscle tissue. Gills may be pale
slowing of feeding activity. Fish
The disease is specific to channel and may also contain pinpoint
may be seen swimming erratically,
catfish and brood stock are hemorrhages. Clear yellow to
often in an aimless spiral pattern.
believed to be the major source of blood-tinged fluid is often present
Brief episodes of hyperactivity
infection to young fish. The disease in the body cavities of diseased
may be seen when fish are dis-
is strongly influenced by environ- fish. The digestive tract contains
turbed, followed by extended
mental stressors. There are no no food, but may be filled with
periods of lethargy. Ultimately,
effective preventive or treatment yellow fluid and mucus. The liver
large numbers of fish may congre-
measures, but the effect of the dis-
ease can be minimized through
optimal management practices.
Although CCVD has a small over-
all impact on the industry, the
effects on individual farms can be
significant, with mortalities
approaching 100 percent in some
production units. Collectively,
CCVD typically accounts for only 1
to 2 percent of total disease losses
in catfish. In the Mississippi Delta,
CCVD accounted for 1.8 to 5.8 per-
cent of cases received by the

*Aquatic Diagnostic Laboratory, College of

Veterinary Medicine, Mississippi State Figure 1. A channel catfish fingerling infected with CCVD. Note the abdominal
University swelling, hemorrhage, distension of the anal area, and bulging eyeballs.
and kidney may be pale and con- infected, but are considered resis- up to 10 days and mortalities are
tain small hemorrhages, while the tant under natural conditions. significantly lower. On individual
spleen is often dark and enlarged Only a single case of infection has farms, outbreaks may occur spo-
(Fig. 2). been described. Channel catfish x radically from year to year, but
The primary damage caused by blue catfish hybrids are reported when they do take place, losses
the virus can be found in the kid- to be as susceptible as the parental can be severe. Mortalities are
ney when examined microscopi- channel catfish strain. Bullhead strongly influenced by poor man-
cally. Dead tissue and hemorrhage (Ameiurus nebulosis, A. natalis, A agement practices and environ-
are seen in both the blood-forming melas), European (Silurus glanis), mental factors that place undue
and excretory components of the African (Clarius gariepinus) and stress on young fish.
kidney. Kidney failure probably Asian catfish (Clarius batrachus) Transmission of the virus occurs
accounts for the accumulation of are resistant to CCVD infection. by two routes–horizontally (from
fluid in the abdominal cavity and The susceptibility of the Pangasius fish to fish) and vertically (pre-
other sites, while destruction of species of catfish, basa (P. bocourti) sumably from brood stock to fry
blood-forming tissues and hemor- and tra (P. hypophthalamus), is via eggs or semen). While fish are
rhage result in the pale appear- unknown. dying, transmission can occur
ance of the gills, liver and kidney. Overall mortality and the speed at between fish through the water
Lesser damage may also occur in which signs develop are highly and by direct contact. The virus
the spleen, liver, intestinal tract, variable and directly related to enters fish by crossing the lining
pancreas and brain. Inflammatory fish size, water temperature, and epithelium of the gill and intesti-
cells invade affected areas in an the amount of virus to which the nal tract. Deaths from CCVD are
attempt to remove the damaged fish are exposed. Concurrent rarely seen after fingerlings reach
and infected tissue. infections with Flavobacterium 1 year of age, unless they are
columnare (columnaris disease), severely stressed.
Factors associated with Edwardsiella ictaluri (enteric sep- Most significantly, the virus per-
disease outbreaks ticemia of catfish, or ESC), or both sists in a dormant form in fish
also can influence mortalities. that survive an outbreak. If these
The disease is highly host specific Outbreaks in channel catfish fry fish are subsequently used as
for the channel catfish, but suscep- and fingerlings usually occur dur- brood stock, the infection can be
tibilities vary among individual ing their first summer (June passed without causing signs of
strains of fish. In early studies, the through September) when water disease. Most commercial brood
percent survival between two temperatures are above 77 °F (25 stocks are believed to harbor the
inbred strains exposed to the virus °C). The greatest mortalities occur virus in this dormant state. The
varied by almost 60 percent (29 in the smallest fish and when tem- virus is passed, presumably in
percent for Falcon vs. 88 percent peratures exceed 86 °F (30 °C). reproductive products, from
for Yazoo). Inbred strains were Under farm pond conditions, clin- brood stock to their offspring at or
generally more susceptible to ical signs can develop in as little around the time of spawning.
infection, while certain outbred as 2 to 3 days following exposure Brood fish may carry the virus
strains had hybrid vigor and at 77 to 86 °F (25 to 30 °C), and even though they have no history
increased resistance to the disease. mortalities may approach 100 per- of disease or detectable evidence
Blue catfish (Ictalurus furcatus) fin- cent in less than a week. At 68 °F of past infection (neutralizing
gerlings can be experimentally (20 °C) signs may not be seen for antibodies) in their blood. It is not
known whether food-size fish that
have survived an outbreak in pre-
vious years can transmit the dis-
ease directly to susceptible finger-
lings. However, considering the
frequency of understocking in the
catfish industry, evidence sug-
gests that this probably does not
occur to any significant extent.
The virus persists in pond water
for only 2 days at 77 °F (25 °C),
but up to 28 days at 39 °F (4 °C).
The virus is inactivated almost
immediately upon contact with
pond mud, to which it readily
adheres. In dechlorinated tap
water survival times are consider-
Figure 2. An infected channel catfish fingerling with pale, swollen kidney (K) con- ably longer, pointing to the need
taining pinpoint hemorrhages. Fluid, or ascites, is also present (F). for proper disinfection in hatchery
troughs. The virus is highly sus-
ceptible to ultraviolet radiation
and drying and is not believed to
persist on netting and other
equipment allowed to dry and
exposed to sunlight for a day or
two.

Diagnosis
Channel catfish virus disease
should be suspected in fry or fin-
gerlings if there are high mortali-
ties during hot summer months
when water temperatures are
above 77 °F (25 °C) and clinical
signs are consistent with infection.
Keep in mind, however, that visi-
ble signs may not be distinguish-
able from ESC and that some tem-
perature overlap exists between
the two diseases. It is important to
submit specimens for diagnosis
while fish are dying, as the virus
does not remain at detectable lev-
Figure 3. Diagnostic cell culture showing CCVD-infected channel catfish ovary
els for more than a few days after cells exhigiting plaque formation or cytopathic effect (CPE).
deaths cease. At high summer
water temperatures, the virus can-
not be isolated from dead and cause producers to make inappro- avoidance, containment and stress
decomposing fish after 48 hours. priate or ineffective treatments. reduction. (Advances in molecular
While diseased or freshly dead Furthermore, certain chemical technology may some day make
specimens are preferable, the treatments used to treat external the screening of brood stock and
virus can be recovered from speci- parasites and infections, such as individual egg masses for the pres-
mens held on ice for up to 2 copper sulfate and formalin, can ence of virus a practical method of
weeks and from frozen samples stress fish and precipitate or wors- avoiding the disease.)
for several months. en mortalities from CCVD, pri- Water supplies to hatcheries and
Diagnosis involves inoculating fil- marily because they lower the dis- ponds should not contain feral
tered organ extracts onto living solved oxygen level in the water. fishes that might harbor the virus.
cell cultures, usually channel cat- The use of antibiotic medicated Newly acquired fry and finger-
fish ovary cells. The cell cultures feeds may reduce mortalities in lings should be quarantined and
are examined for characteristic some cases by controlling concur- never mixed with other groups of
changes called cytopathic effect, rent bacterial infections such as fish. Fish surviving an outbreak
or CPE (Fig. 3). A presumptive, ESC and columnaris, which are may be stunted, but will eventual-
but highly reliable, diagnosis can common during CCVD outbreaks. ly grow to market size. However,
usually be made in 24 to 48 hours, An alternative to using medicated these fish should not be mixed
but can take up to 1 week. feeds is simply to stop feeding with susceptible fry or fingerlings
Because of the short time required while fish are dying. This is or placed in ponds with no known
for a diagnosis and the rapidity believed to limit transmission history of the disease. It should be
with which the disease can because fish are not crowding assumed that survivors carry
spread, it is imperative that sam- together to feed. It also reduces CCVD so they should not be used
ples be submitted for diagnosis as stress by improving water quality. as brood stock. When the disease
soon as a problem is suspected. Reducing water temperatures cannot be avoided and has been a
More sophisticated confirmatory below 66 °F (19 °C) stops deaths persistent problem, the use of
techniques are available, but not under experimental conditions, strains with better resistance may
at most diagnostic laboratories. but is impractical in most com- help, though at present they are
mercial operations. not widely available.
Treatment Containment involves sanitation
Control and prevention and disinfection. Troughs in hatch-
There are no effective treatments
for CCVD or other viral infections In the absence of effective treat- eries should be cleaned, disinfect-
of cultured fish. An accurate diag- ments, good management prac- ed and dried between batches of
nosis should be sought, however, tices are essential to limiting the fry. Fry from diseased troughs
as signs may mimic bacterial dis- frequency and severity of CCVD should be carefully removed and
eases such as ESC, which can outbreaks. These practices are destroyed. Be careful not to conta-
minate adjacent troughs with sufficient to eliminate the virus Despite this, 20 years have passed
splash over, nets, siphons or other from ponds. since the first attempts were made
implements. Disinfect equipment, Maintaining optimal water quali- to develop a practical CCVD vac-
troughs, and any surfaces that ty, particularly high dissolved cine and none is available. Vaccine
contact diseased fish with calcium oxygen levels, in hatcheries, brood development is hampered by fear
hypochlorite HTH® to produce stock ponds and fingerling ponds that CCVD will revert to a viru-
200 mg/l (ppm) available chlorine is the best way to avoid the stress lent form, difficulties in delivering
(Table 1) or with 1.2 ounces (35 that may precipitate or worsen an a vaccine to eggs and large num-
ml) of household bleach (5.25 per- outbreak of CCVD. In the hatch- bers of small fish, the reluctance
cent sodium hypochlorite) per ery, avoid crowding, low water of licensing authorities, the cost of
gallon of water for at least 1 hour. flow and poor water circulation. development and production, and
Afterward, neutralize residual Remove eggshell debris and pro- lack of knowledge regarding the
chlorine with sodium thiosulfate vide good nutrition with a high existence of multiple, distinct
(7.4 ppm thiosulfate/1 ppm chlo- protein diet. In fingerling ponds, CCVD strains.
rine), aerate vigorously, and flush do not overstock or overfeed. Scientists have tried to vaccinate
with large amounts of dechlori- Whenever possible, avoid han- eggs and fry by exposing them to
nated water. Keep in mind that dling fry and fingerlings at tem- or inoculating them with a weak-
the presence of abundant organic peratures above 68 °F (20 °C). As ened CCVD strain, the protein
matter decreases the effectiveness this is not practical for most oper- components of the outer coat of
of chlorine-based disinfectants. ations, reduce stress by 1) harvest- the virus, and genetically altered
Quarantine ponds with diseased ing during the cooler hours of the strains. Most recently, a DNA vac-
fish as well as possible and do not day, 2) not holding fish for cine has shown efficacy in protect-
allow effluent to flow to other extended periods under close con- ing young fish against CCVD, but
ponds. Seines, aerators and other finement, 3) limiting grading problems with the delivery sys-
equipment should be disinfected activities, 4) not allowing fish to tem remain to be overcome.
and allowed to dry thoroughly. crowd during transport, and 5) Modern laboratory techniques
Dead fish should be removed, as always providing adequate oxy- have made it possible to deter-
they may infect other fish or be gen. Never seine or transport fish mine the entire genetic makeup of
moved to nearby ponds by birds during an active outbreak of dis- the virus, so it is likely that an
and other animals. Susceptible ease. effective vaccine will be devel-
fish should not be stocked into The channel catfish can mount a oped, but only if the cost can be
ponds with a history of CCVD protective immune response justified against the overall impact
unless the ponds have been disin- against the virus, probably in of the disease on the industry and
fected, drained and allowed to response to proteins on the outer if vaccination can be successfully
dry first. Evidence suggests that surface of the viral particle. integrated into typical production
thorough drying alone may be schedules.

Table 1. Amount of HTH needed to produce 200 ppm

available chlorine in 100 gallons (378 liters) of water.
HTH
(% chlorine) Grams Ounces
15 529 19.0
50 151 5.5
65 121 4.3

SRAC fact sheets are reviewed annually by the Publications, Videos and Computer Software Steering
Committee. Fact sheets are revised as new knowledge becomes available. Fact sheets that have not
been revised are considered to reflect the current state of knowledge.

The work reported in this publication was supported in part by the Southern Regional Aquaculture Center
through Grant No. 2002-38500-11085 from the United States Department of Agriculture, Cooperative State
Research, Education, and Extension Service.