Evaluation of lethal and non‐lethal sampling methods for the detection of white sturgeon iridovirus infection in white sturgeon, Acipenser transmontanus (Richardson)

Pectoral fin tissue of white sturgeon was investigated as a potential non‐lethal sample source for the detection of white sturgeon iridovirus (WSIV) infection. Histopathology and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) results using fin tissue were compared with the standard lethal histopathology sampling method that utilizes head tissue. Tissues for each of the three sampling methods were collected weekly for 8 weeks from individual sturgeon undergoing an experimental cohabitation challenge with fish infected with the Abernathy isolate of WSIV. Non‐lethal fin histopathological evaluation did not reveal infection during the first 3 weeks of sampling, while non‐lethal PCR and the lethal method were variable. However, all three sampling methods were equally capable of identifying infection from 4 to 8 weeks post‐exposure. Of the survivors tested, all were negative by PCR and the lethal method, and only one fish was identified as being positive by non‐lethal fin histopathology. In another experiment, all three sampling methods were applied to asymptomatic WSIV carriers in a case study conducted at the Kootenai Tribal Sturgeon Conservation Hatchery. Results showed that both lethal and non‐lethal fin histopathology were equally effective in detecting infection, but PCR was unable to identify this strain of WSIV. Depending on the virus isolate, these results suggest that non‐lethal sampling of fin tissue (histopathology or PCR) is comparable with the lethal sampling method at identifying WSIV infection once infection is established, and under certain circumstances may provide an alternative to lethal sampling.