New Disease - Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia - Causing Large Great Lakes Fish Kills

[hatrack]

Audio Report:

Commercial fishers and biologists are concerned about the impact a viral disease will have on the Great Lakes fishery. There have been some large fish kills. Live fish commerce has been restricted to help prevent the spread of the disease.

A disease is spreading, causing large fish kills in the Great Lakes. Biologists and fishery officials are working to prevent further spread of the disease, but there’s a conflict between government agencies. Lester Graham reports there’s also a cost to businesses that deal in live fish:

http://www.glrc.org/mp3/2007/01/01/graham_010107.mp3

Lovely stuff - apparently it can cause external sores a la piscicidia, but generally causes fish to die from internal bleeding. Probably an import from Europe via ballast water or the commercial fish trade.

[Warpy]

1. That sounds like psicine Ebola

and will spread much more efficiently through water to infect fish than it does through air and contact to infect humans.

They're going to have to work on this one, devise a vaccine and vaccinate farm raised fish and turn them loose in the Great Lakes generation after generation, in hopes the virus load in the water abates over time.

[kestrel91316]

2. No biggie. Those fish are all full of toxic chemicals so they are of

no commercial value anyway.

:sarcasm: