A Virus From Farmed Seafood Is Causing A New Eye Disease In People

Why It Matters

The discovery reveals a zoonotic threat from a virus already pervasive in the global seafood supply chain, raising public‑health concerns for millions of workers and prompting the need for new safety protocols and surveillance in the rapidly growing aquaculture industry.

Summary

Researchers have identified the covert mortality nodavirus (CMNV), previously known only as a shrimp pathogen, as the cause of a new human eye disease called persistent ocular hypertensive viral anterior uveitis (POH‑VAU). The March 2024 Nature Microbiology study documented viral particles in patients' iris tissue, universal antibodies among 70 cases, and reproduced the disease in mice, showing severe inflammation, high intra‑ocular pressure and vision loss in many patients. The virus is widespread in global aquaculture, detected in 35‑40% of shrimp and fish samples across Asia and also in specimens from the Americas, Africa and Antarctica, linking human cases to direct handling of raw seafood. Cooking inactivates CMNV, but occupational exposure for seafood workers remains a significant risk as aquaculture production expands worldwide.