Epidemiology of Infectious Hematopoietic Necrosis (IHN) and Viral Haemorrhagic Septicaemia (VHS) in Salmonid fish in Piedmont region (Northwest of italy)

Infectious Hematopoietic Necrosis (IHN) and Viral Hemorrhagic Septicaemia (VHS) are two systemic infections of several species of salmonid fish; the reporting is mandatory in accordance with Directive 67/1991 EC. In order to obtain and preserve the free status at farm level, the Italian legislation (D.L.vo 148/2008) adopted a surveillance program of all freshwater farms of salmonid fish which make repopulation in public water. Aim of this study is to provide data on the descriptive epidemiology of IHN and VHS in Piedmont Region in the years 2000-2015, which extended the surveillance to all fish farms. The diffusion of the diseases was described by year and geographical area. Moreover unvariate and multivariate analysis were used to test the potential role of a number of farm characteristics.