Viral Diseases

The lack of information available with respect to naturally occurring viral infections in zebrafish is striking, considering importance of laboratory zebrafish for a wide range of biomedical research areas. The susceptibility of zebrafish to viral infections is reflected in an epizootic of naturally occurring lethal viral nervous necrosis in zebrafish, natural infections of zebrafish with infectious spleen and kidney necrosis virus, natural infections of zebrafish with zebrafish picornavirus, endogenous viral elements in the zebrafish genome, and many experimental infection experiments with a wide range of fish and mammalian viruses. Thus, the lack of information about natural viral infections reflects a relative dearth of scientific investigation in this area rather than an inability of viruses to infect zebrafish. This chapter briefly reviews naturally occurring viral infections of zebrafish and experimental viral infections in zebrafish and includes a general discussion of biosecurity with respect to detection, diagnosis, risk assessment, and restrictions on zebrafish movement.