Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia Now Confirmed In Lake Huron - Moving North In Fish Populations

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TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. -- A fast-spreading aquatic virus threatening stormy waters for the Great Lakes fishing industry has been detected in Lake Huron for the first time, officials said Thursday. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources said it had confirmed the presence of viral hemorrhagic septicema, or VHS, in fish samples from waters as far north as Cheboygan -- only about 15 miles from where Lake Huron meets Lake Michigan.

VHS previously had been found in only two of the Great Lakes -- Ontario and Erie -- and in Lake St. Clair, which links lakes Erie and Huron. But officials have predicted the virus eventually would spread across the entire lakes system, where the $4.5 billion fishery is a crucial segment of the economy. "This disease threatens the closure of a major portion of the Michigan baitfish industry," said Chris Weeks, president of the Michigan Aquaculture Association. "It is also expected to have significant impacts on the aquaculture industry and Michigan's recreational fisheries."

How damaging the virus turns out to be will depend largely on whether fish develop immunity to it, said Kelley Smith, chief of the DNR's fisheries division. The virus poses no danger to people but is deadly for fish. It targets some of the region's most popular sport and commercial species.

Analyses completed earlier this week found VHS in whitefish from the Cheboygan area, whitefish and walleye from Thunder Bay, and Chinook salmon from a DNR egg-taking station near Rogers City, Smith said. Originally a saltwater virus, VHS made its first known appearance in the Great Lakes in 2005, killing the likes of freshwater drum and muskellunge.

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