Mortality Due to Infectious Hematopoietic Necrosis of Sockeye Salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) Fry in Streamside Egg Incubation Boxes

Abstract

Infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus caused mortality of sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) in streamside egg incubation boxes. Virus was not detectable in eggs or alevins; its first isolation coincided with the appearance of dead fish in a trap on the outflow from the box. Mortality due to the virus did not occur in every egg box studied. However, when fry from the boxes were held in the laboratory, epizootics began as much as 3 wk later, with total mortality exceeding 90%. More than 96% of the dead fry had titers exceeding 105 plaque-forming units per gram. The peak incidence of virus in fry migrating in the river coincided with the arrival of hatchery-produced fry, although some fry believed to have been produced by natural spawning were also infected.