Research
European eels transmit a herpesvirus through bites, revealing another route for fish infections
Phys.org ·
The Brief
- A team from the University of Liège found that a herpesvirus affecting European eels can spread efficiently through bites.
- This challenges the previous belief that fish viruses spread mainly through water acting as an abiotic vector.
Why it matters
It shows that direct animal-to-animal contact, not only water, can drive viral infections in fish, which matters for how researchers model disease spread in wild and farmed eel populations.
Who’s affected
- fish biologists and researchers studying wildlife disease
- eel conservation and fisheries managers
- #eels
- #herpesvirus
- #fish-disease
- #transmission
- #virology
Contrary to what was previously believed, viruses infecting fish are not transmitted exclusively through water acting as an abiotic vector. A team of researchers from the University of Liège has demonstrated that a virus affecting European eels can spread very efficiently through…