Red Sea Bream Iridoviral Disease

Abstract

Red sea bream iridoviral disease (RSIVD) has caused severe economic damages to mariculture in Japan since it was first found in 1990 in the western part of Japan. The causative agent (red sea bream iridovirus: RSIV) was successfully isolated and identified in few years and then a useful diagnosis method by indirect fluorescent antibody test using anti-RSIV monoclonal antibody was developed. In addition, effectiveness of formalin-inactivated virus as a vaccine was demonstrated in 1997 and the vaccine started to be sold in 1999 in Japan as the first commercially available vaccine against a viral disease in marine fish. In this review, we summarized the history of RSIVD research in the past few decades.