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Diseases of Aquatic Organisms

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DAO 113:163-167 (2015)  -  DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/dao02829

NOTE
Blue crabs Callinectes sapidus as potential biological reservoirs for white spot syndrome virus (WSSV)

James W. B. Powell1, Craig L. Browdy2,4, Erin J. Burge3,*

1College of Charleston, Department of Environmental Studies, 66 George Street, Charleston, SC 29424, USA
2South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, Marine Resources Research Institute, 217 Fort Johnson Road, Charleston, SC 29412, USA
3Coastal Carolina University, Department of Marine Science, PO Box 261954, Conway, SC 29526, USA
4Present address: 5 Tomotley Court, Charleston, SC 29407, USA
*Corresponding author:

ABSTRACT: White spot syndrome virus (WSSV) is a virulent pathogen of cultured shrimp and was first detected in farms in South Carolina (USA) in 1997 and subsequently in wild shrimp in 1999. We screened groups of 1808 wild Atlantic white shrimp Litopenaeus setiferus and 300 blue crabs Callinectes sapidus collected from South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida for the presence of WSSV using the Shrimple® immunoassay-strip test, with all positives and random subsets of negatives tested by TaqMan real-time PCR and in infectivity bioassays. Of 87 shrimp and 11 crabs that tested positive using the Shrimple® test, only a single C. sapidus was confirmed to be infected with WSSV by PCR and the infectivity bioassay. The data indicate that the prevalence of WSSV in these species is low in these southeastern US regions, but that C. sapidus may serve as a biological reservoir.


KEY WORDS: Atlantic white shrimp · Litopenaeus setiferus · Penaeid · Decapoda · Bioassay · WSSV · Real-time PCR · Shrimple® · False positive


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Cite this article as: Powell JWB, Browdy CL, Burge EJ (2015) Blue crabs Callinectes sapidus as potential biological reservoirs for white spot syndrome virus (WSSV). Dis Aquat Org 113:163-167. https://doi.org/10.3354/dao02829

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