Passive Transfer of Sera with Antivirus Neutralizing Activity from Adult Channel Catfish Protects Juveniles from Channel Catfish Virus Disease

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Abstract
Juvenile channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus were found to be protected from experimental infections of channel catfish virus (CCV) after passive transfer of adult sera with anti‐CCV neutralizing activity. Juveniles in control groups that received injections of normal serum or saline and were then challenged with CCV experienced average cumulative mortalities of 66 and 71%, respectively. In contrast, juveniles receiving serum with anti‐CCV activity (neutralization index of 102.6) via intraperitoneal injections had an average cumulative mortality of 1%. Furthermore, fish in the control groups showed typical signs of channel catfish virus disease and contained virus concentrations of up to 107˙TCID50 (50% tissue culture infective dose endpoint) per gram of tissue. In comparison, no signs of disease were observed among fish receiving serum containing anti‐CCV neutralizing activity. These studies demonstrated that serum with anti‐CCV neutralizing activity (presumably due to anti‐CCV antibody) obtained from adult channel catfish can protect juveniles from lethal challenges with CCV. However, the role of antivirus antibodies in recovery from primary infections and in virus expression during latent infections remains unknown.