RANAVIRUSES

This is a open access book Ranaviruses double stranded DNA viruses family Iridoviridae that cause systemic life threatening disease in a variety of amphibians reptiles and fish have contributed to mass die offs of both wild and captive populations around the globe These viruses are emerging and increasingly responsible for population declines of ectothermic vertebrates Because amphibians reptiles and freshwater turtles are suitable hosts and among the most imperiled vertebrate taxa in the world ranaviruses can have significant impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem function Additionally many fish that are raised in aquaculture facilities and traded internationally are suitable hosts thus the potential economic impact of ranaviruses is significant Ranaviruses also serve as a model for understanding viral replication and gene function among large double stranded DNA viruses e g poxviruses asfarvirus and ascoviruses Lastly study of the host immune response to ranaviral disease and the identification of viral immune evasion genes that negatively regulate host immune functions provide insight into which specific immune elements are most important in protecting host species against severe disease The effort to produce a 2nd edition of our earlier work