Quantification of Cyprinid Herpesvirus 3 in Environmental Water by Using an External Standard Virus

Cyprinid herpesvirus 3 (CyHV-3), a lethal DNA virus that spreads in natural lakes and rivers, infects common carp and koi. We established a quantification method for CyHV-3 that includes a viral concentration method and quantitative PCR combined with an external standard virus. Viral concentration methods were compared using the cation-coated filter and ultrafiltration methods. The recovery of virus-like particles was similar for the two methods (cation-coated filter method, 44% ± 19%, n = 3; ultrafiltration method, 50% ± 3%, n = 3); however, the former method was faster and more suitable for routine determinations. The recovery of seeded CyHV-3 based on the cation-coated filter method varied by more than 3 orders of magnitude among the water samples. The recovery yield of CyHV-3 was significantly correlated with that of the seeded λ phage, and the average ratio of λ to the CyHV-3 recovery yield was 1.4, indicating that λ is useful as an external standard virus for determining the recovery yield of CyHV-3. Therefore, to quantify CyHV-3 in environmental water, a known amount of λ was added as an external standard virus to each water sample. Using this method, CyHV-3 DNA was detected in 6 of the 10 (60%) types of environmental water tested; the highest concentration of CyHV-3 DNA was 2 × 10⁵ copies liter⁻¹. The lowest recovery limit of CyHV-3 DNA was 60 copies liter⁻¹. This method is practical for monitoring CyHV-3 abundance in environmental water.Cyprinid herpesvirus 3 (CyHV-3) is a lethal DNA virus that infects the common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) and koi carp (C. carpio koi). The occurrence of the disease in the United Kingdom has been dated to 1996, following outbreaks in the United States, Israel, Europe, and South Asia (10), and has afflicted cultured ornamental and common carps, causing severe losses to fish breeders, retailers, and hobbyists (28). Therefore, the characterization and diagnosis of the disease have been the subject of intensive research (15). In recent years, the mortality of wild carp has been reported in natural freshwater environments (11, 18, 23). In Lake Biwa in Japan, 60 to 80% of the wild carp population (>100,000) died in 2004, presumably due to CyHV-3 infection (Shiga Prefectural Government, http://www.pref.shiga.jp/g/suisan-s/seika/files/seikah1711.pdf in Japanese]) (18). The mass mortality of wild carp can directly and indirectly affect community composition and environmental ecosystems (18). Nevertheless, the occurrence of the disease and the means of transmission of CyHV-3 in the natural environment are still not well understood.CyHV-3 is present in several organs of infected fish, such as the intestines, kidneys (7), and gills (29). CyHV-3 is also detected in droppings (3); therefore, infected fish are suspected of releasing CyHV-3 into natural waters. Seasonal variation and the spatial distribution of CyHV-3 may be important for understanding the transmission routes and mechanisms by which CyHV-3 spreads. However, the lack of a reliable method for quantifying CyHV-3 in environmental water precludes our elucidation of how this disease spreads.In general, the concentration of a pathogen in environmental water is considerably lower than that found in host bodies. Therefore, a CyHV-3 concentration method is required to detect and quantify the virus in environmental water. Several methods have been developed for determining concentrations of viruses in water samples. Ultrafiltration can concentrate a pathogen from a large volume of water in <100 liters (27, 35). An alternative method involving the use of electronegative or electropositive microporous adsorbent filters has also been used to concentrate viruses from environmental water (1, 8). The mechanism of concentration in this method is based on electrostatic interactions. Haramoto et al. established a cation-coated filter method in which viruses that had been trapped were eluted with NaOH solution (pH 10.8) instead of the conventional solution, beef extract, which inhibits the PCR (12, 13). The concentrated viruses can then be used for PCR-mediated identification. Using this method, they succeeded in the qualitative detection of CyHV-3 DNA from river water samples (13).Viral recovery during concentration is influenced by soluble organic compounds (33, 34) and salts (31) in the water, which may vary in each sample. Therefore, quantification of the viral DNA from concentrated environmental water samples has been difficult. Because sediments contain many substances that influence DNA recovery, Mumy and Findlay developed a method for the routine determination of DNA extraction efficiency using an external DNA recovery standard, as follows: λ DNA was added to sediments, the total DNA was extracted, and the amount of target DNA recovered was determined by quantitative PCR (22).In this study, we established a method for quantifying CyHV-3 in environmental water using a viral concentration method and TaqMan PCR combined with an external standard virus. To choose a suitable viral concentration method, we compared the viral recovery yields between the ultrafiltration and cation-coated filter methods, and the procedure was modified to increase sensitivity. We then confirmed that the recovery yields of CyHV-3 and the external standard virus λ from different environmental waters throughout the procedure were positively correlated. Finally, we applied this method to environmental water samples taken from Lake Biwa and Takaragaike Pond in Japan at 3 years and 1 month, respectively, after an outbreak of the disease for the detection and quantification of CyHV-3.