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Preventing Infectious Hematopoietic Necrosis In Salmonid Fish Along The Columbia River Basin, Whitney L. Wright

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Annual Conference

Infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) is a member of the Rhabdoviridae family and causes infectious hematopoietic necrosis (IHN) disease in many salmonid species during the juvenile or “fry” stage of life. IHNV is endemic to Western North America and occurs in the Columbia River Basin, where Steelhead and Chinook salmon are the most abundant IHNV-vulnerable species. IHNV can cause an epidemic in wild or farmed stocks, killing 90-95 percent of the fish it infects. Transmission is currently understood to occur by direct exposure through the gills, and the virus is shed typically from asymptomatic or clinically ill carrier adults at …