International scientists said on Tuesday they have identified a new virus that is killing both wild and farmed tilapia fish, an important global food source worth $7.5 billion each year. The culprit is related to a family of influenza viruses, and appears to kill fish by causing brain swelling in tilapia in Israel and liver disease in the fish in Ecuador, said the findings in the journal mBio.
The newly identified pathogen, named tilapia lake virus (TiLV), affects tilapia, the world's second most farmed fish. "Tilapia is one of the most important fish industries world-wide," said co-author Eran Bacharach, a molecular virologist at Tel Aviv University. "Moreover, because they eat algae, they are ecological gatekeepers for freshwater and they are an inexpensive, important source of protein in poorer countries."
Scientists still know little about the virus' biology, where it originated, or how it made its way into Israel in 2009 and two years later, to commercial ponds in Ecuador. A future research paper will describe its effects in Colombia as well, the authors said. According to researcher Ian Lipkin of Columbia University, "building a vaccine would save billions of dollars and preserve an industry that ensures employment in the developing world and food security."
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