Research Product

Considerable recent interest has focused on the discovery of viruses that cause diseases in non-insect invertebrates. Since Vago (1966) reported the first virus disease of a marine crustacean, viruses and/or viral diseases have been reorted for shrimps, crabs, daphnids, entoniscid isopods, oysters of several genera, octopods and squids, annelids, trematodes, nematodes, hydra, and a sponge. Most of the reports contained only brief descriptions of the virus with little information on pathogenesis in the hosts. A few reports have been more extensive and contain detailed descriptions of virus-related pathogenesis and virus-host cell relationships. This chapter will describe some aspects of the pathogenesis of better known virus diseases in several exemplary non-insect invertebrate hosts. Also included will be brief descriptions of some lesser known viruses in other invertebrates to demonstrate the range of relationships among viral groups and non-insect invertebrates. Available information on the histopathogenesis, cellular pathogenesis, physiological, and behavioral responses to select host-virus interactions will be discussed under the headings of virus/host types (Table 5-1)