In situ hybridization and RT-PCR detection of Macrobrachium rosenbergii nodavirus in giant freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii (de Man), in Taiwan

Between January and March 2006, suspected outbreaks of white tail disease were observed in post‐larvae and juveniles of Macrobrachium rosenbergii in hatcheries and nursery ponds at Kaohsiung and Pingtung Counties in southern Taiwan. Pathognomonic lesions showed the presence of large oval and/or irregular basophilic, cytoplasmic inclusion bodies in the infected muscles and hepatopancreas. Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) assay and in situ hybridization (ISH) revealed evidence of M. rosenbergii nodavirus (MrNV) infection but did not detect extra small virus. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that there were very high identities between nucleotide sequences among six strains obtained in this study (99.5–100%), moderate identities with Caribbean and Indian strains (98.2–98.6%), but slightly lower identity with a Chinese strain (95.2%). This is the first confirmation of MrNV in giant freshwater prawns, using an RT‐PCR and ISH, in Taiwan.