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Lobster virus: Understanding the spread of a new threat
A Florida marine ecologist narrows down the spread of the first lobster virus.
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From the Florida Keys to Cuba to the Bahamas and Belize, tourists and locals enjoy the taste of the Caribbean spiny lobster. Family operations and commercial fisheries alike depend on its popularity, so the lobster is important to many local economies.
But this crustacean is threatened by a virus called Panulirus argus virus 1 (PaV1).
"We know that it can spread between lobsters. They can eat infected tissue and contract it that way, or get it through contact with other lobsters," says Donald Behringer, marine ecologist at the University of Florida.
According to Steve Otwell, professor of food science and human nutrition at the University of Florida, there's no scientific evidence of a similar threat from the PaV1 virus to humans. "The information we have available suggests that this virus is very host specific," he says.
Behringer was studying lobster density in 1999 when he discovered a number of sick animals. The lobsters became lethargic — they stopped molting and stopped eating. Infected animals took on a pinkish, cooked color. "We ultimately discovered what turned out to be the first virus for any lobster in the world," says Behringer.
He finds that with PaV-1, the animals appear to be dying of "metabolic exhaustion." They cannot oxygenate their tissues, their tissues deteriorate and they die. "Probably 95 percent of those that become infected with it die of it," he notes.
The level of infection is believed to be between 5 and 8 percent of the population. Behringer is now using a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to try to understand the dynamics of the disease, and specifically how it's spreading. "We see it pretty much everywhere we've looked in the Caribbean," he says.
A Florida marine ecologist narrows down the spread of the first lobster virus.
Full Article Here
From the Florida Keys to Cuba to the Bahamas and Belize, tourists and locals enjoy the taste of the Caribbean spiny lobster. Family operations and commercial fisheries alike depend on its popularity, so the lobster is important to many local economies.
But this crustacean is threatened by a virus called Panulirus argus virus 1 (PaV1).
"We know that it can spread between lobsters. They can eat infected tissue and contract it that way, or get it through contact with other lobsters," says Donald Behringer, marine ecologist at the University of Florida.
According to Steve Otwell, professor of food science and human nutrition at the University of Florida, there's no scientific evidence of a similar threat from the PaV1 virus to humans. "The information we have available suggests that this virus is very host specific," he says.
Behringer was studying lobster density in 1999 when he discovered a number of sick animals. The lobsters became lethargic — they stopped molting and stopped eating. Infected animals took on a pinkish, cooked color. "We ultimately discovered what turned out to be the first virus for any lobster in the world," says Behringer.
He finds that with PaV-1, the animals appear to be dying of "metabolic exhaustion." They cannot oxygenate their tissues, their tissues deteriorate and they die. "Probably 95 percent of those that become infected with it die of it," he notes.
The level of infection is believed to be between 5 and 8 percent of the population. Behringer is now using a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to try to understand the dynamics of the disease, and specifically how it's spreading. "We see it pretty much everywhere we've looked in the Caribbean," he says.
