Viral defense

Offentlig prosjektsammendrag

Viral diseases are one of the most important health challenges in Atlantic salmon farming industry in North Sea. In Norway, the high prevalence of heart and skeletal muscle inflammation (HMSI) and cardiomyopathy syndrome (CMS) and pancreas disease (PD) in sea phase has persisted. The extensive surveillance program and new DNA vaccine against SAV-3 have improved the situation of PD. However, the number of detections of PD was still high in 2022. Due to lack of vaccines and non-notifiable, control of HSMI and CMS has been very challenging. High mortality after sea lice treatment has been often linked to the HSMI and CMS. In addition to the significant economic losses, concern about fish welfare has been increased. Incorporating the utilization of functional feed could be a cost-effective solution for minimizing the economic loss and improving the fish welfare in salmon farming. In this project, we will evalaute the effect of functional compoents on enhancing immunity and increasing the resistance to the viral disease, which will mitigate the tissue damages, promote the recovery, maintain the feed intake, reduce the body weight loss, and improve the welfare, by using PD and CMS challange models.