Researchers based in British Columbia have identified a virus that may pose a threat to farmed Pacific oysters and contributed to the mass mortality event of the species in 2020.
Scientists at the University of British Columbia (UBC) published a report on Aug. 4 detailing their findings after an investigation into the large-scale die-off in the province five years ago.
The researchers gathered 33 oysters from two farms in B.C. that experienced the 2020 die-off, along with 26 wild oysters collected from 10 nearby sites.
Ribonucleic acid (RNA) analysis identified a novel virus—Pacific Oyster Nidovirus 1—in the dead or dying oysters. Yet it was not detected in healthy wild oysters, suggesting a correlation between the virus and mortality….