1. Monitoring to keep track of the situation. --- Through investigation mass mortalities only to limit costs?
I don't think monitoring only mass mortalities will give you a realistic idea of where the virus can be found. Do you have any information on the situation in other parts of the country? We have been able to document ranavirus infection in Germany in a healthy-seeming pond, and similar has been done elsewhere.
3. Studies leading to more insight into species at risk --- Would in vitro studies on fish/reptile/amphibian cell-lines provide some insight?
I would strongly expect all ranaviruses to grow in basically all (vertebrate) cell lines offered at appropriate temperatures, including mammalian and avian cell lines. I do not think cell culture studies will tell you much about species specificity of a ranavirus. Transmission studies would be a more expensive and extensive possibility. We have been doing some work on sequencing limited portions of the genomes of ranaviruses from amphibians and reptiles to at least help understand relationships between these viruses.
Hope that helps a little. Feel free to contact me if you would like more info on our experiences here in Germany.
Cheers,
Rachel
