https://padlet.com/ljvossler/2ksieq5ngsqbqydt Padlet with information regarding the Tilapia Lake Virus that is currently caused stress on the fishing industry and market. en-us 2023-03-19 22:49:07 UTC 2023-04-23 23:02:25 UTC hello@padlet.com ljvossler https://padlet.com/ljvossler/2ksieq5ngsqbqydt/wish/2522559199 Common Name: Tilapia Lake Virus

Scientific Name: Tilapia tilapinevirus

Abbreviated Name: TiLV

This disease has been classified as its own species in the family of Amnoonviridae and genus of tilapinevirus.]]> 2023-03-19 23:06:52 UTC https://padlet.com/ljvossler/2ksieq5ngsqbqydt/wish/2522559199 ljvossler https://padlet.com/ljvossler/2ksieq5ngsqbqydt/wish/2530945884 The first confirmed reports of major TiLV outbreaks came from Tilapia Fish Farms in Israel in 2014-2016. However analysis of phylogenetic lineages of the virus suggests that the disease has been around in smaller capacity since the early 2000s.
This negative single-strand RNA virus is fortunately not transmissible to humans. This is most likely due to the disease being more adapted to spreading in an aquatic environment.
Though not a hereditary disease, this virus is easily able to spread to fish offspring, by infecting reproductive organs via the bloodstream.
This fact has been the cause of a lot of hardship in the Tilapia market as "healthy" broodstock that were unknowingly infected passed the disease to their fertilized eggs. These offspring being shipped worldwide has caused the rapid transmission.]]> 2023-03-24 22:12:08 UTC https://padlet.com/ljvossler/2ksieq5ngsqbqydt/wish/2530945884 ljvossler https://padlet.com/ljvossler/2ksieq5ngsqbqydt/wish/2539492051 The disease was first officially noticed and reported by 2014, and by then it had already spread to many fish farms in Ecuador. The disease appears to not have traveled far in the years leading up to 2017. But soon after, by 2018 there was a massive uptick in reports from major Tilapia farms in Egypt (2017), Thailand (2017), and India (2018). Reports also were made in the Americas. And the first report of the virus in the U.S was in 2020.
Though it is not uncommon to find a few lineages of Tilapia across the world that are more resistant to the disease, overall it has an estimated 90% mortality rate amongst all fish infected worldwide.
The map displayed in the previous section shows an accurate distribution of TiLV as of 2020. The map displayed here is one from January 2018 which outlines both the countries reported to have TiLV and all the predicted high risk-of-exposure regions at that time.

]]> 2023-03-31 06:39:22 UTC https://padlet.com/ljvossler/2ksieq5ngsqbqydt/wish/2539492051 ljvossler https://padlet.com/ljvossler/2ksieq5ngsqbqydt/wish/2548376906 In this post, virulence of the TiLV disease will be described based on the symptoms it produces.
This disease is generally considered highly virulent when in a host and it harms nearly all major organs in the fish's body. noticeable skin lesions, abdomen swelling, anemia, and a 90% mortality rate among individuals affected.
Based on the phylogenetic predictions outlined in Post #2, it is reasonable to say that the virulence of TiLV has gone up significantly since its predicted origin in the early 2000's. The disease was hardly noticed  even at a local scale back then, let alone a globally.
It may be interesting to note that since the early 2000's, Tilapia farming has been greatly increasing worldwide and is one of the most heavily farmed fish in the world (and also is one of the most popular for human consumption). In the fish farming industry it is common practice to pack fish together extremely tightly so as to produce the maximum yield from each pond of fish. It may be a reasonable hypothesis that due to the constant fish cramming, far more virulent and harmful forms of TiLV were able to evolve and persist through multiple generations in a population.]]> 2023-04-10 03:17:38 UTC https://padlet.com/ljvossler/2ksieq5ngsqbqydt/wish/2548376906 ljvossler https://padlet.com/ljvossler/2ksieq5ngsqbqydt/wish/2549764330 Unfortunately, this disease currently has no effective or economically feasible vaccine to combat the effects of TiLV.
Currently, the tilapia farming industry is responding by simply trying to keep their farming conditions clean and regularly checked for diseases. However, time has shown that it will inevitably break out, so a vaccine is in high demand and has been in the works for many years.
Many possible types of vaccines are being considered including both live and inactivated forms. But what I find most interesting is the issue of administering the vaccine.
When discussing thousands of fish in an aquatic environment that contribute to a massive industry, the logistics of dosing out the cure can be a costly process. For example, by physically (by hand) vaccinating most fish in a population, one can be sure that every fish receive the vaccine, but this comes at the cost of immense workload. On the other hand, oral vaccines given through fish feed are far less expensive options, but then comes the issue of varying levels of vaccine intake between fish.
I haven't been able to find many examples of alternate or new methods of vaccine development and dispersal being developed and researchers are certainly going to need to be creative.
But based on the articles and papers I am reading, despite all the drawbacks, researchers are optimistic that a vaccine can be developed as more and more examples of higher immunity to TiLV are discovered naturally.]]> 2023-04-11 06:38:02 UTC https://padlet.com/ljvossler/2ksieq5ngsqbqydt/wish/2549764330 ljvossler https://padlet.com/ljvossler/2ksieq5ngsqbqydt/wish/2564854560 Since this is a worldwide disease affecting nearly all major Tilapia farming industries, many government responses to this disease can be considered. But for simplicity, we'll focus on the response here in the U.S.  As mentioned in previous posts, since there is no effective and economical cure for TiLV, the best response is for fisheries to just be extra diligent in maintaining cleanliness in their ponds. The USDA already has many high cleanliness standards throughout the fishing industry. However, at this current time, that is really all that has been done in terms of government responses to the virus. Of course, support and funding for a TiLV vaccine has been requested by researchers and fishery managers, but the reality is that since TiLV doesn't affect humans and the Tilapia industry is relatively small compared to many others worldwide, its not much of a high priority where government is concerned. Third-Party organizations have been known to give funding to research groups, but very little has been done in the government sphere in the U.S. ]]> 2023-04-23 22:40:30 UTC https://padlet.com/ljvossler/2ksieq5ngsqbqydt/wish/2564854560 ljvossler https://padlet.com/ljvossler/2ksieq5ngsqbqydt/wish/2564862328 Unlike many of the most widespread and detrimental diseases, the societal impacts of TiLV could almost be described as a global nonpriority and nationally (within the U.S.) nonexistent among average people.
However, it is highly possible that, on a global level, we haven't seriously considered just how damaging this can be to the fishing industry and global food supply as a whole.

When considering the amount of food that can be produced, fisheries are surprisingly near the top of the ladder. They far outpace many other terrestrial sources of meat such as beef or pork. This is due to fisheries being able to produce a large amount of fish from a relatively low amount feed compared to other food industries.

When this in mind, one can come to the realization of just how underutilized the fish industry is around the world. And with the rate that diseases such as TiLV are spreading, general society may only understand fishing usefulness by the time the industry is crippled by its inability to respond to diseases.]]> 2023-04-23 23:02:25 UTC https://padlet.com/ljvossler/2ksieq5ngsqbqydt/wish/2564862328