> What impact does the virus have on bees?
It's a great question since we fly blind with viruses that don't manifest distinguishable symptoms.
It seems likely, since AmSV1 destroys cells during replication that it's harmful. But like the Epstein-Barr Virus in 90% of the world's human population, the active pathology only occurs under certain situations.
We use another virus in the same family (Solinviviridae), SINV-3 to control fire ants.
> Field evaluation of SINV-3 showed that the virus caused a significant decrease in the density of fire ant nests, reduced nest sizes in the treated area, and spread to adjacent areas (Valles et al., 2022).
>Solenopsis invicta virus 3 infection alters foraging behavior in its host Solenopsis invicta [fire ants]
Steven M. Valles
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