Blood and liver biopsy for the non-destructive screening of tilapia lake virus.

Detection of tilapia lake virus (TiLV) in tilapines is mainly from visceral organs of killed fish. However, lethal sampling might not be viable to broodstock and economically important ornamental cichlids. To contribute towards screening of the virus in asymptomatic infected fish, a subclinically infected population of Nile tilapia adults obtained from a local farm was preliminarily tested to compare different non-lethal sampling methods, for example liver biopsy, gill biopsy, fin clip, mucus, faeces and blood for detection of TiLV.