Denman Island disease in Washington State, USA: distribution and prevalence in Pacific and Olympia oysters

Dis Aquat Organ. 2015 May 21;114(2):147-54. doi: 10.3354/dao02862.

Abstract

We sampled over 2400 wild, feral, and cultured Pacific oysters Crassostrea gigas and Olympia oysters Ostrea lurida in Washington State, USA, from 2002 to 2006 to estimate the prevalence of infection with Mikrocytos mackini, the causative agent of Denman Island disease. Both histology and qualitative PCR methods were used. Estimates of true prevalence of M. mackini infection in C. gigas, after accounting for imperfect test sensitivity, ranged from mean values of 0 to 10.0% by histology and 0 to 8.4% based on pooled PCR samples. M. mackini was not detected in any of the O. lurida samples. Results suggest a lower prevalence of the pathogen and severity of this oyster disease in Washington than that indicated in previous reports from British Columbia, Canada, potentially attributable to higher seawater temperatures in the Washington sample locations.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Host-Parasite Interactions
  • Ostreidae / parasitology*
  • Parasites / classification
  • Parasites / isolation & purification*
  • Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Species Specificity
  • Washington