SPD/PD
Viral
🟠 Severe
🔔 OIE Notifiable
💉 Vaccine Available
Salmon Pancreas Disease
🦠 Salmonid alphavirus (SAV) · Togaviridae
📋 Overview
PD is the most important infectious disease by production loss in Norwegian salmon aquaculture, costing the industry over NOK 1 billion annually. The virus spreads rapidly between sea-cages. Survivors develop chronic muscle pathology causing poor growth and reduced flesh quality.
📊 Key Facts
Causative Agent
Salmonid alphavirus (SAV)
Serotypes
SAV1 (SDV), SAV2, SAV3 (Norwegian PD)
Geographic Range
Norway, Scotland, Ireland
Transmission Routes
Water-borne, direct contact between cages
Primary Host
Atlantic Salmon (sea-water phase)
Treatment
⚠ Supportive only
🩺 Clinical Signs
Anorexia, lethargy, faecal casts, atrophy of pancreatic acinar tissue, cardiac necrosis, skeletal muscle myopathy.
🔬 Symptoms
🔬
Faecal casts
Digestive Acute
🔬
Muscle myopathy
Musculoskeletal Chronic
🔬
Cardiac inflammation
Circulatory Subacute
🧪 Diagnosis
RT-PCR, ELISA, histopathology.
💊 Treatment
ℹ️ Treatment options are supportive. Consult a qualified fish health professional.
Supportive. Vaccines available and widely used.
🛡️ Prevention
ℹ️ Prevention is the most effective strategy for managing this disease in aquaculture and aquarium settings.
Vaccination, movement controls, spatial separation of sites.