Review on the Antiviral Organic Agents against Fish Rhabdoviruses

Fish rhabdoviruses are harmful single-stranded RNA viruses with high mortality rates which cause considerable economic losses in aquaculture. It is imperative to explore and develop new antiviral compounds against them. In recent years, in addition to inorganic antiviral substances, more than 50 different organic compounds have been confirmed to be effective in the prevention and treatment of rhabdovirus infection and its dissemination in fish. The main types of extracts or agents and their trial designs are here considered for review. This review reveals the reported antiviral activities of extracts from organisms, proteins, lipids, polysaccharides, nucleic acids, coumarin derivatives, arctigenin derivatives, and other antiviral organic molecules against fish rhabdoviruses, respectively. Additionally, their antiviral mechanisms of action include direct virucidal effects, inhibiting virus-induced host cell apoptosis, the blocking of the viral replication cycle, affecting gene expression and innate antiviral immune responses, and so on. This review also gives perspectives on how to comprehensively explore the potential applications of the candidate molecules, which lay the foundation for the future development of new compounds or strategies for the prevention and control of fish rhabdoviruses in aquaculture.