Salmonid alphavirus -monitoring infection and disease on Irish salmon farms

摘要

Global aquaculture provides an increasing source of protein worldwide and about 72% of the world's salmon harvest is farmed.1 Farming takes place in large net cages in sheltered waters such as fjords or bays. While most farmed salmon come from Norway,Chile, Scotland and Canada, Ireland has a small but unique salmon-farming sector, which is almost exclusively produced to organic standards and sold into high-end niche markets worldwide. To produce this high-quality product, the health and welfare of the farmed salmon are paramount. The control of infectious diseases in aquaculture is one of its success stories. Vaccination plays a large role in preventing both viral and bacterial diseases and it will surprise most people to know that over 300 million salmon in Europe are vaccinated each year before sea transfer to prevent several serious salmon diseases. As a result, farmed salmon have the lowest usage of antibiotics in any intensive farming sector (Figure 1).