Red swamp crawfish (Procambarus clarkii): An alternative experimental hostin the study of white spot syndrome virus

The pathogenicity of white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) for the red swamp cra wfish (Procambarus clarkii) was investigated after infection by intramuscul ar (i.m.) injection and oral route. The cumulative mortality of crawfish in jected i.m, with WSSV reached 100% in 5 days. After oral feeding WSSV-infec ted kuruma shrimp (Penaeus japonicus) muscle tissues to the crawfish the cu mulative mortality of this host reached 100% in 11 days. On reinfection tri als, all the crawfish fed WSSV-infected crawfish muscle tissues died in 9 d ays. All the shrimp injected with a filtrate of infected crawfish heart tis sues died in 12 days with typical signs of white spot syndrome (WSS). Elect ron microscopy clearly demonstrated that WSSV propagated in the cells of th e crawfish midgut. This study showed that the red swamp crawfish can be use d as alternative experimental host in the study of WSSV.