Discovery and Genomic Characterization of a Novel Hepadnavirus from Asymptomatic Anadromous Alewife ().

The alewife ( is an anadromous herring that inhabits waters of northeastern North America. This prey species is a critical forage for piscivorous birds, mammals, and fishes in estuarine and oceanic ecosystems. During a discovery project tailored to identify potentially emerging pathogens of this species, we obtained the full genome of a novel hepadnavirus (ApHBV) from clinically normal alewives collected from the Maurice River, Great Egg Harbor River, and Delaware River in New Jersey, USA during 2015-2018.

Myxobolus lentisuturalis infection in a farmed population of goldfish Carassius auratus from the USA.

Myxobolus lentisuturalis is a myxozoan parasite of piscine muscle that has been described in goldfish Carassius auratus and Prussian carp Carassius gibelio. This report documents a naturally occurring infection of M. lentisuturalis in a population of farmed goldfish in the USA.

Myxozoan parasites vary in river herring according to life history stage and habitat.

Anadromous river herring have declined in many parts of their range, leading to fisheries management efforts to help repopulate this species by improving connectivity of rivers and restoring populations by fish transfers. With data lacking on parasites in these species, this study sought to better understand myxozoans across various life stages and habitats in river herring populations in New Jersey, USA. We compared fish from riverine habitats during early-life growth and adults returning to spawn, marine-phase fish, and landlocked Alewife populations.

Distribution and Pathogenicity of Two Cutthroat Trout Virus (CTV) Genotypes in Canada.

The sole member of the genus (family ) is cutthroat trout virus (CTV) but recent metatranscriptomic studies have identified numerous fish hepevirus sequences including CTV-2. In the current study, viruses with sequences resembling both CTV and CTV-2 were isolated from salmonids in eastern and western Canada. Phylogenetic analysis of eight full genomes delineated the Canadian CTV isolates into two genotypes (CTV-1 and CTV-2) within the genus.

Tetra disseminated microsporidiosis: a novel disease in ornamental fish caused by Fusasporis stethaprioni n. gen. n. sp.

A novel microsporidial disease was documented in two ornamental fish species, black tetra Gymnocorymbus ternetzi Boulenger 1895 and cardinal tetra Paracheirodon axelrodi Schultz 1956. The non-xenoma-forming microsporidium occurred diffusely in most internal organs and the gill, thus referring to the condition as tetra disseminated microsporidiosis (TDM). The occurrence of TDM in black tetra was associated with chronic mortality in a domestic farmed population, while the case in cardinal tetra occurred in moribund fish while in quarantine at a public aquarium.

Black sea bass are a host in the developmental cycle of (Copepoda: Pennellidae): insights into parasite morphology, gill pathology and genetics.

Lernaeenicus radiatus, a mesoparasitic pennellid copepod, has long been known in the northwest Atlantic with metamorphosed females infecting the muscle of marine fish. The study herein is the first to identify a definitive first host, black sea bass Centropristis striata, for L. radiatus supporting larval development to adults and sexual reproduction in the gills.

Seasonal intestinal coccidiosis in wild bluegill Lepomis macrochirus is associated with a spring bacterial epizootic.

Wild bluegill, Lepomis macrochirus Rafinesque, succumb to seasonal mortality in the early spring during cool water temperatures, shown previously to be related to bacteraemia caused by a psychrotrophic bacterium, Pseudomonas mandelii. In the study herein, intestinal coccidiosis in wild bluegill had seasonal prevalence causing heavy intestinal infections and sloughing of intestinal epithelium occurring in late winter/early spring. Infections were predominantly related to two different species, Goussia washuti n.

Diagnosis and treatment of multi-species fish mortality attributed to Enteromyxum leei while in quarantine at a US aquarium.

Enteromyxum leei is an enteric myxozoan parasite of fish. This myxozoan has low host specificity and is the causative agent of myxozoan emaciation disease, known for heavy mortalities and significant financial losses within Mediterranean, Red Sea, and Asian aquaculture industries. The disease has rarely been documented within public aquaria and, to our knowledge, has never been confirmed within the USA.

First report of carp edema virus in the mortality of wild common carp Cyprinus carpio in North America.

Carp edema virus (CEV) is an unclassified poxvirus that infects skin and gill tissue to cause koi sleepy disease. In the USA, CEV was first detected in 1996 in a California koi wholesaler, and has since been reported sporadically only within imported and domestic koi. Common carp Cyprinus carpio are a non-native species now present in most waterways in the USA.

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning: The Great Imitator.

Carbon Monoxide (CO) is one of the leading causes of poison deaths in the United States. Signs and symptoms are clinically variable secondary to inconsistent targeting of highly metabolic tissues by the gas. We report a case of a man in his early to mid-30's presenting to the emergency department with mental status changes, fatigue, headache, and flu-like symptoms for three days.

Phylogeny and morphology of Ovipleistophora diplostomuri n. sp. (Microsporidia) with a unique dual-host tropism for bluegill sunfish and the digenean parasite Posthodiplostomum minimum (Strigeatida).

Microsporidia are diverse opportunistic parasites abundant in aquatic organisms with some species hyperparasitic in digenean parasites. In the current study, we describe a unique microsporidian parasite, Ovipleistophora diplostomuri n. sp.

A bacterium with close genetic identity to Pseudomonas mandelii associated with spring fish kills in wild bluegill Lepomis macrochirus Rafinesque and pumpkinseed sunfish Lepomis gibbosus (Linnaeus).

Pseudomonas fluorescens are known bacterial pathogens in fish. The P. fluorescens group contains at least nine different bacterial species, although species from fish have rarely been differentiated.

Disease surveillance of Atlantic herring: molecular characterization of hepatic coccidiosis and a morphological report of a novel intestinal coccidian.

Surveillance for pathogens of Atlantic herring, including viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV), Ichthyophonus hoferi, and hepatic and intestinal coccidians, was conducted from 2012 to 2016 in the NW Atlantic Ocean, New Jersey, USA. Neither VHSV nor I. hoferi was detected in any sample.

Myxobolus mauriensis n. sp. Infecting Rib Cartilage of Young-of-the-Year River Herring in New Jersey: Notes on Pathology, Prevalence, and Genetics.

:  River herring populations, including Alosa pseudoharengus and Alosa aestivalis , have significantly declined as a result of anthropogenic factors throughout their range in eastern North America. To better understand the health of the species, parasite surveys were conducted in several New Jersey rivers. A novel myxozoan parasite, Myxobolus mauriensis n.

Intestinal coccidiosis of anadromous and landlocked alewives, Alosa pseudoharengus, caused by Goussia ameliae n. sp. and G. alosii n. sp. (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae).

Anadromous alewives, Alosa pseudoharengus, have experienced significant population level declines caused by factors including habitat destruction. Alewives occur in two different life histories, anadromous and landlocked forms. The landlocked alewife evolved from ancestral anadromous populations, resulting in an exclusively freshwater and phenotypically unique form.

The parasite Ichthyophonus sp. in Pacific herring from the coastal NE Pacific.

The protistan parasite Ichthyophonus occurred in populations of Pacific herring Clupea pallasii Valenciennes throughout coastal areas of the NE Pacific, ranging from Puget Sound, WA north to the Gulf of Alaska, AK. Infection prevalence in local Pacific herring stocks varied seasonally and annually, and a general pattern of increasing prevalence with host size and/or age persisted throughout the NE Pacific. An exception to this zoographic pattern occurred among a group of juvenile, age 1+ year Pacific herring from Cordova Harbor, AK in June 2010, which demonstrated an unusually high infection prevalence of 35%.

Cyprinid herpesvirus-2 causing mass mortality in goldfish: applying electron microscopy to histological samples for diagnostic virology.

In June 2013, a major fish kill of adult goldfish Carassius auratus occurred in Runnemede Lake, New Jersey, USA: an estimated 3000 to 5000 fish died within ~5 d. Necropsy of 4 moribund fish revealed severely pale gills, and histopathology showed type I and II fusion of the gills, diffuse necrosis of hematopoietic tissue in anterior and posterior kidney, and multifocal necrosis of the spleen. Within necrotic areas, pyknosis and enlarged nuclei with marginalized chromatin were observed.

Experimental infection studies demonstrating Atlantic salmon as a host and reservoir of viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus type IVa with insights into pathology and host immunity.

In British Columbia, Canada (BC), aquaculture of finfish in ocean netpens has the potential for pathogen transmission between wild and farmed species due to the sharing of an aquatic environment. Viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV) is enzootic in BC and causes serious disease in wild Pacific herring, Clupea pallasii, which often enter and remain in Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar, netpens. Isolation of VHSV from farmed Atlantic salmon has been previously documented, but the effects on the health of farmed salmon and the wild fish sharing the environment are unknown.

Molecular epidemiology of viral haemorrhagic septicaemia virus (VHSV) in British Columbia, Canada, reveals transmission from wild to farmed fish.

Viral haemorrhagic septicaemia virus (VHSV) is a fish pathogen found throughout the Northern Hemisphere and is capable of infecting and causing mortality in numerous marine and freshwater hosts. In the coastal waters of British Columbia, Canada, the virus has been detected for 20 yr with many occurrences of mass mortalities among populations of Pacific herring Clupea pallasii (Valenciennes) and sardine Sardinops sagax as well as detections among cultured Atlantic Salmo salar and Chinook Oncorhynchus tshawytscha salmon. We compared nucleotide sequence of the full glycoprotein (G) gene coding region (1524 nt) of 63 VHSV isolates sampled during its recorded presence from 1993 to 2011 from 6 species and a total of 29 sites.

Viral tropism and pathology associated with viral hemorrhagic septicemia in larval and juvenile Pacific herring.

Viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV) genotype IVa causes mass mortality in wild Pacific herring, a species of economic value, in the Northeast Pacific Ocean. Young of the year herring are particularly susceptible and can be carriers of the virus. To understand its pathogenesis, tissue and cellular tropisms of VHSV in larval and juvenile Pacific herring were investigated with immunohistochemistry, transmission electron microscopy, and viral tissue titer.

Ontogeny and disease responses of Langerhans-like cells in lymphoid tissues of salmonid fish.

The ontogeny and disease responses of Langerhans-like cells within lymphoid tissues of Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar, and rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, were investigated. These cells were studied in situ with the use of two markers: the ultrastructural presence of Birbeck-like granules and immunohistochemistry with an antibody against human langerin/CD207 that cross-reacts with salmonid tissues. The appearance of Birbeck-like granules was observed in rainbow trout at 2 weeks post-hatch (PH) in the thymus and anterior kidney prior to the development of the spleen.

Histochemical and ultrastructural analysis of pathology and cell responses in gills of channel catfish affected with proliferative gill disease.

Pond-reared channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus with proliferative gill disease (PGD), caused by the myxozoan parasite Henneguya spp., were examined with light and transmission electron microscopy to better characterize the inflammatory response during infection. The early stages of disease are characterized by the destruction of collagen in the matrix of the gill filament cartilage causing weakness and breaks within the gill filaments.

Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy in a patient without apparent immunosuppression.

An 80-year-old man with no history of an immune-compromising disorder was diagnosed with progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). He presented with dysphagia and left-sided weakness; magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated marked signal abnormality in the subcortical white matter of the left frontal lobe and in the posterior limb of the right internal capsule. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was negative for John Cunningham (JC) virus.

Infection of gill and kidney of Fraser River sockeye salmon, Oncorhynchus nerka (Walbaum), by Parvicapsula minibicornis and its effect on host physiology.

Adult sockeye salmon, Oncorhynchus nerka (Walbaum), migrating upstream in the Fraser River, British Columbia, are exposed to the myxozoan parasite Parvicapsula minibicornis when they enter the river from the ocean. Infections are initially localized in the kidney but have recently been associated with branchitis in one population. Adult fish from five locations in the watershed were sampled to determine whether branchitis was widespread.