ABALONE VIRAL GANGLIONEURITIS - AUSTRALIA: (TASMANIA)
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Date: 15 Jan 2011
Source: ABC.net.au [edited]
<http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/01/15/3113551.htm>
Abalone farm closed after virus outbreak
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An abalone farm on Tasmania's east coast has tested positive for a highly contagious abalone virus [abalones are edible sea snails. - Mod.SH].
Abalone viral ganglioneuritis affects the nervous systems of abalone, causing weakness and death.
The Department of Primary Industries has closed the farm and a processing facility. A biosecurity plan has been put in place to contain the outbreak, which the department says has not spread into the wild.
There are no health risks for people handling or eating abalone affected by the virus.
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[While there are no health associated risks to eating or handling infected abalone, there is an economic impact to the producer and possibly to the area.
Ganglioneuritis is an interesting condition causing inflammation in the nervous tissue, which swells. The result is curling of the abalone foot and swelling of the mouth. Thus, the organism cannot eat and loses its grip on the rocks it so depends on.
Abalone viral ganglioneuritis (AVG) is a highly virulent herpes-like virus, undescribed in Australia before 2005, and still not well characterized. The virus affects the nervous tissue of abalone and rapidly causes death. The virus can be spread through direct contact, through the water column without contact, and in mucus that infected abalone produce before dying.
The virus is thought to survive only a short time when out of a moist environment.
AVG affects both blacklip and greenlip abalone and hybrids of these 2.
In June 2006, coastal waters off Port Fairy were declared a Control Area under the Victorian Livestock Disease Control Act (1994), as the disease is listed as notifiable. Fishing and diving activities in the Control Area were restricted to minimize the risk of human activity transferring the disease to unaffected abalone populations elsewhere in the State.
Abalone shell, viscera (meat and gut) should not be
- shucked (taken from the shell) at sea,
- dumped into the sea,
- used as fishing bait.
Portions of this comment have been extracted from the Department of Primary Industries for the State of Victoria, Australia
(<http://www.dpi.vic.gov.au/dpi/nrenfaq.nsf/LinkView/C5360C2028FA31E2CA2572330021C4BE6E6F5C6DF9868F86CA25741F001C5236>)
and from Victorian Abalone Divers Association Inc, VADA (<http://www.vada.com.au/Virus/Virus.htm>).
Maps of the state of Tasmania may be found at <http://www.tas.gov.au/tasmaniaonline/about/map.asp> and the HealthMap/ProMED-mail interactive map at <http://healthmap.org/r/00Kt>.
Abalone images and information are available at <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abalone>. - Mod.TG]
[see also:
2009
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Abalone viral ganglioneuritis - Australia: (TS) 20090901.3077
2008
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Abalone viral ganglioneuritis - Australia: (TAS) 20080911.2839
2007
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Ganglioneuritis, abalone - Australia, (VIC) 20070225.0684
2004
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Withering syndrome of abalone - Iceland: OIE 20040615.1605
2003
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Abalone die-off - Taiwan 20030313.0618]
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