Z-IV.3. Laboratory for Fish Pathology

Diagnostics of diseases of fish and shellfish from fish farms and open waters by use of autopsy, parasitological tests, bacteriological tests, virological tests and histological pathological tests and counselling of the therapy, containment and prevention of disease spreading and related research.

Fields of activity:

• Diagnostics of diseases of aquatic organisms as set out in the Act on Veterinary Services and the Decree on measures for the protection of animals from infectious and parasitic diseases in domestic production in import from abroad;
• Diagnostic tests for the purpose of determining health condition of fish and shellfish from farms and open waters with the goal of diagnosis and providing recommendations for disease treatment and containment measures;
• Improvement and harmonization of the existing diagnostic methods and introduction of new diagnostic methods, in accordance with the applicable standards set out by the European laws and recommendations of the International Aquatic Animal Health Code of OIE;
• Participation in annual inter-laboratory testing of viral disease diagnostics in fish, organized by EURL for Fish Diseases VET-DTU, Aarhus, Denmark;
• Participation in annual inter-laboratory testing of disease diagnostics in shellfish, organized by EURL for Shellfish Diseases IFREMER, La Tremblade, France;
• Cooperation with the Directorate for Veterinary Services of the Ministry of Agriculture in drafting of legal regulations in the area of aquatic organism diseases and taking part in workshops and other conferences for education of veterinarians;
• Work on research projects in the area of aquaculture.

Methods used in the Laboratory:

• Autopsy and basic parasitological testing;
• Basic bacteriological testing on culture media, creation of antibiograms and identification of isolated bacteria;
• Virological testing on cell lines (EPC, BF-2, EPC-N, EPC-A, CHSE, CCB, FHM, SSN-2);
• Identification by means of viral neutralization (VN) method, enzyme immunoassay (ELISA), imunoperoxidase test (IP) and immunofluorescence test (IF) of isolated viruses for confirmation of spring viremia of carp (SVCV), viral haemorrhagic septicaemia (VHSV), infectious hematopoietic necrosis (IHNV), infectious pancreatic necrosis (IPNV), viral encephalopathy and retinopathy virus (VERV), koi herpes virus (KHV), pike fry rhabdovirus (PFRV);
• Endoparasitic tests;
• Cytological test of native and stained materials for identification of parasites;

Diagnostics of parasitic diseases of shellfish through testing of tissue contact plates and histological sections;