Infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) has been found to cause disease in cultured salmon of the Pacific Northwest region of North America. Diagnosis of IHNV by virus isolation (VI) can take over 2 weeks. Recently, a rapid reverse transcriptase (RT) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test on fish tissues has been used for diagnosis. Test performances of the VI and RT PCR assays were compared using samples collected in the field. The effect of different storage conditions (tissue frozen with or without RNAlater [Ambion, Inc., Austin, Texas] versus fresh tissue) on the diagnostic tests was also evaluated. Based on the limited number of samples tested, the operating characteristics of RT PCR were very similar to those of VI; therefore, this method is likely suitable for testing field samples for IHNV. The ability of the tests to identify a positive fish ranged from 74% to 89%. Freezing samples at -80 degrees C before testing did not negatively affect the performance of RT PCR or VI. However, due to reduced test performance, RNAlater frozen storage is not recommended without further investigation.

中文翻译：

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对为诊断不列颠哥伦比亚省养殖大西洋鲑鱼感染性造血坏死病毒而收集的田间样品进行逆转录酶聚合酶链反应试验和病毒分离的评价

已发现传染性造血坏死病毒 (IHNV) 会在北美太平洋西北部地区的养殖鲑鱼中引起疾病​​。通过病毒分离 (VI) 诊断 IHNV 可能需要 2 周以上的时间。最近，对鱼类组织的快速逆转录酶 (RT) 聚合酶链反应 (PCR) 测试已用于诊断。使用现场收集的样品比较了 VI 和 RT PCR 检测的测试性能。还评估了不同储存条件（有或没有 RNAlater [Ambion, Inc., Austin, Texas] 与新鲜组织的冷冻组织）对诊断测试的影响。基于测试的样本数量有限，RT PCR 的操作特性与 VI 非常相似；因此，该方法可能适用于测试 IHNV 的现场样品。测试识别阳性鱼的能力在 74% 到 89% 之间。在测试前在 -80 摄氏度冷冻样品不会对 RT PCR 或 VI 的性能产生负面影响。但是，由于测试性能降低，不建议在未经进一步调查的情况下冷冻 RNAlater。