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Local fish cleared of VHS |
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Wednesday, 03 September 2008 |
By ANGELA WEAVER
Staff Writer
ST. MARYS — Fish collected in the area tested negative for a deadly virus that caused a major kill in Lake Erie in 2006.
Fish from 22 sites in Ohio, including Grand Lake St. Marys and Lake Loramie, tested negative for viral hemorrhagic septicemia (VHS) through a collaborative testing effort conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Ohio Department of Agriculture and the Ohio Sea Grand College Program. Officials detected the virus in Clear Fork Lake, near Mansfield, in a muskellunge species earlier this year
Ovarian fluid was collected from muskellunges in April and identified as VHS by molecular techniques at the end of May.
The Great Lakes strain of the virus affects 28 different species and is different than the VHS strains in Europe and in the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of North America.
Morton Pugh of the St. Marys Fish Hatchery said every fish at the hatchery was tested in the spring, including muskies, yellow perch, bass and catfish.
“The testing is done once a year in early spring,” Pugh said, “It all came back negative.”
Warmer water temperatures make it harder for the virus to be detected, Pugh said, which is why testing isn’t done in the summer. Low oxygen levels in the water from the summer heat could also have an impact on the virus. Spawning can contribute to the spreading of the virus.
“When fish are under stress, it seems to flare up,” Pugh said.
Pugh said the muskies were tested using ovarian fluid because they’re too valuable and other species have been killed for testing. Officials do not separate the sexes of the fish during testing.
“With most species it’s difficult to tell if the fish is male or female,” he said, which would impact the testing.
Symptoms for VHS include hemorrhaging of internal organs, skin and muscle, and external bleeding can be visible in the eyes, gills and in the bases of the fins.
It is possible for an infected fish not to show signs of the virus.
Because the virus doesn’t affect humans, it is safe to eat infected fish, as long as the fish is cooked properly.
VHS is considered one of the most significant pathogens of fish worldwide, according to information released by the division of wildlife. It most likely traveled to the Ohio River Watershed through bait, ballast water or fish movements, or through infected fish being transported by birds.
If VHS is detected in a hatchery or waterway, the area would most likely be quarantined until testing is finished and the fish would be destroyed and the facility would be disinfected. |
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Last Updated ( Monday, 08 September 2008 )
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