Particular qualities of infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus circulation in the sockeye population at Kurile Lake (Kamchatka)

Abstract

Long-term (2004–2018) virological studies have shown that the Kurile Lake is a natural focus of infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV). A hypothesis about the survival of the virus as a species is discussed. The results of the phylogenetic analysis of the midG region showed that typical IHNV genetic sequences found in sockeye salmon from Kurile Lake are unique and have single mutations. This confirms the assumption that the lake is a closed system, and fish from other reservoirs were not brought into it.