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Mollusc disease situation in Europe : what’s new since 2008 ?

Isabelle Arzul1*, Axel Osta Amigo1 and Coralie Lupo1
  • 1 Ifremer, SG2M-LGPMM, France

In Europe, surveillance effort regarding mollusc diseases is different between Member States and partly depends on the amount and the diversity of the shellfish production. Some countries implement active surveillance of pathogens regulated at the European level including Bonamia ostreae and Marteilia refringens. Non-regulated pathogens such as OsHV-1-µvar or Perkinsus olseni are also the target of some national active surveillance programmes. In addition, many European countries carry out passive surveillance based on abnormal mortality reports. However, mortality reporting relies on the good will of producers/fishermen (Lupo et al. 2012) and differs between mollusc species. Indeed, abnormal mortality reports in Europe mostly concern the Pacific cupped oyster Crassostrea gigas, and, in a lesser concern, mussels and clams. Very occasionally mortality is reported on other less accessible species including scallops Pecten maximus or flat oyster Ostrea edulis. The advantages and limits of these surveillance systems are discussed through examples of mollusc pathogen emergence in Europe since 2008. These data have been collected through the network of National Reference Laboratories (NRLs) of mollusc diseases. Since these last years, implemented surveillance programmes have allowed better defining the geographic distribution of some mollusc pathogens. For example, the protozoan parasite M. refringens has been detected in locations for which partial data was previously available such as in the Adriatic Sea. The protozoan parasite B. exitiosa, previously considered exotic to Europe has been detected in different European countries sometimes in the context of mortality events but more often in the context of active surveillance programme (Arzul et al. 2011). In few Member States, surveillance programmes have been carried out to achieve and maintain free status regarding some pathogens in some zones or for the whole country. This surveillance effort has sometimes contributed to detect pathogens like OsHV-1µvar and B. ostreae in previously free locations. Finally, these different active and passive surveillance programmes have contributed to characterize new pathogens. For example, the protozoan parasite Marteilia cochillia has been detected in association with mortality of cockles in Spain (Carrasco et al. 2011) and in the context of wild population monitoring (Villalba et al. 2014). Parasites of the genus Mikrocytos have been observed in the context of mortality events affecting different mollusc species including Donax trunculus in France (Garcia et al. 2012), Ruditapes philippinarum in Spain and The Netherlands or Crassostrea gigas in United Kingdom (Hartikainen et al. 2014). Transfer of animals and depuration centers seem to contribute to the spread of mollusc pathogens. However, the source of these apparently new pathogens is often difficult to identify. These examples question the means to prevent and mitigate mollusc diseases in a production which generally takes place in open areas and in the context of which treatment and vaccination is not conceivable.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the network of NRLs for Mollusc Diseases.

References

Arzul, I., Aranguren, R., Arcangeli, G., Cheslett, D., Couraleau, Y., Engelsma, M., Figueras, A., Garcia, C., Geoghegan, F., Magnabosco, C., Stone, D. (2011). Distribution and Variability of Bonamia exitiosa in flat oyster Ostrea edulis populations in Europe. Journal of Shellfish Research 31(1), 300

Carrasco, N., Roque, A., Andree, K.B., Rodgers, C., Lacuesta, B., Furones, M.D. (2011). A Marteilia parasite and digestive epithelial virosis lesions observed during a common edible cockle Cerastoderma edule mortality event in the Spanish Mediterranean coast. Aquaculture 321, 197-202.

Garcia, C., Arzul, I., Joly, J.P., Guichard, B., Chollet, B., Omnes, E., Haond, C., Robert, M., Lupo, C., Francois, C. (2012). Mikrocytos like protozoans and the shellfish Donax trunculus mortality events in France. Journal of Shellfish Research 31, 273).

Hartikainen, H., Stentiford, G.D., Bateman, K.S., Berney, C., Feist, S.W., Longshaw, M., Okamura, B., Stone, D., Ward, G., Wood C., Bass D. (2014). Mikrocytids are a broadly distributed and divergent radiation of parasites in aquatic invertebrates. Current Biology 24, 807-812

Lupo, C., Osta Amigo, A., Mandard, Y.V., Peroz C., Renault, T. (2012). Improving early detection of exotic or emergent oyster diseases in France: Identifying factors associated with shellfish farmer reporting behaviour of oyster mortality, Preventive Veterinary Medicine 116, 168-182.

Villalba, A., Iglesias, D., Ramilo, A., Darriba, S., Parada, J., No, E., Abollo, E., Molares, J., Carballal, M.J. (2014). Cockle Cerastoderma edule fishery collapse in the Ría de Arousa (Galicia, NW Spain) associated with the protistan parasite Marteilia cochillia . Dis Aquat Org 109, 55-80

Keywords: Mollusc diseases, disease surveillance, Mollusc disease surveillance, Pathogen emergence, Network of National Rference Laboratories

Conference: AquaEpi I - 2016, Oslo, Norway, 20 Sep - 22 Sep, 2016.

Presentation Type: Oral

Topic: Aquatic Animal Epidemiology

Citation: Arzul I, Osta Amigo A and Lupo C (2016). Mollusc disease situation in Europe : what’s new since 2008 ?. Front. Vet. Sci. Conference Abstract: AquaEpi I - 2016. doi: 10.3389/conf.FVETS.2016.02.00054

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Received: 30 May 2016; Published Online: 14 Sep 2016.

* Correspondence: Dr. Isabelle Arzul, Ifremer, SG2M-LGPMM, La Tremblade, France, Isabelle.Arzul@ifremer.fr