Establishment of a Biosurveillance Network To Investigate the Disease Ecology and Biothreat of the Novel, Emerging Adomavirus Associated With Blotchy Bass Syndrome in Black Basses

1Clayton D. Raines, 2Tom Jones, 3John Odenkirk, 4Geoffrey Smith, 5Patricia Mazik, 6Zanethia Barnett, 7John Coll, 1Nathaniel Hitt and 1Luke R. Iwanowicz

1U.S. Geological Survey, Eastern Ecological Science Center; 2Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department; 3Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources; 4Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, 5West Virginia University, 6U. S. Forest Service Southern Research Station, 7US Fish and Wildlife Service, Fish Health Center

ABSTRACT

Blotchy bass syndrome is characterized by the manifestation of variable, discrete areas of hyperpigmentation (melanosis) on the external surface of black basses. This is a condition that has received increased attention from anglers and resource managers during the past decade, and it is a frequent topic of discussion and reporting on angling websites and blogging platforms. While this condition was first reported in the mid-1980’s in largemouth bass from the Hudson River, NY the cause of the characteristic black blotches has remained elusive. We now have evidence that this condition is associated with a novel adomavirus, but we know very little about this disease. We recently sequenced the complete genome of this new emerging adomavirus which has facilitated the development of multilocus molecular diagnostic assays. Moving forward, a coordinated biosurveillance network is necessary to understand the geographical extent, seasonality, and biological threat of this viral disease to black basses. This presentation outlines our proposed three-year plan to establish a nationwide biosurveillance network and ultimately populate a database with blotchy bass observation metrics.  Proposed tactics include: i) Creation of a blotchy bass syndrome task force that includes federal (USFWS and U.S. Forest Service) and state fisheries managers across states where black basses are managed; ii) Development of minimally invasive (non-lethal) sampling methods and focal prevalence studies in selected states; iii) Crowdsourced detection of blotchy bass occurrence using citizen science approaches; and, iv) Assembly of smartphone image captures to utilize geospatial and timestamp metadata for temporal evaluation of disease occurrence.  Establishing an image-based crowdsourced biosurveillance increases augments geographical and temporal sampling coverage beyond realistic management agency resources, such that observations can be vetted.