Enhanced cell culture isolation of Infectious Pancreatic Necrosis Virus from kidney tissue of carrier Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) using sonication of the cell harvest.

IPNV in carrier Atlantic salmon parr was titrated in the supernatant after homogenisation of the kidney and compared with the titre in the supernatant of the sonicated cell pellet. In 17/20 fish the cell-associated and particulate-bound virus exceeded that in the clarified homogenate supernatant. In two method comparison experiments using pre- or post-smolt field samples, sonicated cell pellet after homogenisation yielded the highest number of isolations.