Following the outbreak of Pacific Oyster Mortality Syndrome (POMS) in the Port River, South Australia in summer 2017-18, a need was identified for rapid diagnostic technology for OsHV-1, the causative agent of POMS. During the February 2016 OsHV-1 outbreak in Tasmania, tracing activities in Tasmania and South Australia required substantial follow-up and surveillance to define diseased areas and inform OsHV-1 management. This surveillance was slow and expensive, although it was observed that in outbreak situations OsHV-1 prevalence and viral load are high. The Australian Pacific oyster aquaculture industries and State governments have expressed a need for more cost effective surveillance options for monitoring disease in affected areas.
The advantage of a rapid test is that in the event of an oyster mortality, information would be available within hours, rather than days, to guide response measures. It is likely that field techniques will be less sensitive than laboratory methods, but OsHV-1 in outbreaks has characteristics that lend it to field based diagnostic methods including high prevalence and viral load and few diseases with similar presentation.
This project will review available technology, select a candidate approach, and implement an OsHV-1 test using the preferred platform. We will test samples in parallel with qPCR to assess the sensitivity and specificity of the rapid test platform.
Final report
The advantage of a rapid test is that in the event of an oyster mortality, information would be available within hours, rather than days, to guide response measures. It is likely that field techniques will be less sensitive than laboratory methods, but OsHV-1 in outbreaks has characteristics that lend it to field based diagnostic methods including high prevalence and viral load and few diseases with similar presentation.