Manna Scholarship Recipient Publishes an Article in "Journal of Clinical Microbiology"
Manna scholarship recipient, Japhette Esther Kembou Tsofack, and fellow affiliated faculty published an article titled “Identification of a Novel RNA Virus Lethal to Tilapia”.
The Manna Center Program for Food Safety and Security would like to congratulate Japhette Esther Kembou Tsofack, Manna scholarship recipient who is currently pursuing her PhD studies, as well as her partners for writing the recently published article titled “Identification of a Novel RNA Virus Lethal to Tilapia”.
The article was written by Marina Eyngor, Rachel Zamostiano, Japhette Esther Kembou Tsofack, Asaf Berkowitz, Hillel Bercovier, Simon Tinman, Menachem Lev, Avshalom Hurvitz, Marco Galeotti, Eran Bacharach and Avi Eldara, from the following institutions: Department of Poultry and Fish Diseases, The Kimron Veterinary Institute, Bet Dagan, Israel; Department of Cell Research and Immunology, The George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel; The Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel; Department of Animal Facility, Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel; Ein Gev Fisheries, Kibbutz Ein Gev, Israel; Dan Fish Farms, Kibbutz Dan, Upper Galilee, Israel; Department of Food Science, Section of Veterinary Pathology, University of Udine, Udine, Italy.
In short summary, Tilapines are the second most important group of farmed fish worldwide and important for the sustainability of ecological systems. Significant mortality of wild and cultured tilapia has been observed recently in Israel. In the article, the etiological agent of this disease, a novel RNA virus, is described, and procedures allowing its isolation and detection are revealed. The virus, denominated tilapia lake virus (TiLV), was propagated in primary tilapia brain cells or in an E-11 cell line, and it induced a cytopathic effect at 5 to 10 days postinfection. The cohabitation of healthy and diseased fish demonstrated that the disease is contagious and that mortalities (80 to 100%) occur within a few days. Fish surviving the initial mortality were immune to further TiLV infections, suggesting the mounting of a protective immune response. Screening cDNA libraries identified a TiLV-specific sequence, allowing the design of a PCR-based diagnostic test. This test enables the specific identification of TiLV in tilapines and should help control the spread of this virus worldwide.
To read the full article, click here.
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