Fluid and tissue specimens taken from brook trout by destructive and nondestructive methods were processed several ways to determine the suitability of the samples and the sensitivity and efficiency of the processing methods for determining the prevalence of infectious pancreatic necrosis virus (IPNV). For detecting viral infectivity, the cell fraction of ovarian fluid, kidney + spleen samples, and pyloric caeca samples were essentially indistinguishable and gave the highest level of sensitivity wlth the supernatant fraction of ovarian fluid being the next h~g h e s t .The white blood cell fraction was vanable in delineating virus carriers, and virus titers of white cell fractions were several log,,, less than ovarian fluid or tissues. The plasma fraction was not s u~t a b l e for detecting IPKV. The choice of clinical sample and processing method affected detection of v~r a l infrctivity. O v a r~a n fluid samples had a tendency to show autointerference and inherent inhibition of viral infectivity, but llttle toxicity.Samples of kidney + spleen showed higher inherent inhibition and toxicity, but little autointerference.Samples of pyloric caeca showed the highest degree of toxicity, but little autointerference or inhibition of infectivity.