[Fox News] - Viral Hemorrhagic Septicema - Fish-Killing Aquatic Virus Spreads Among Great Lakes

Fish-Killing Aquatic Virus Spreads Among Great Lakes

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Friday , January 26, 2007

TRAVERSE CITY, Michigan — A fast-spreading aquatic virus that threatens the Great Lakes fishing industry has been detected in Lake Huron for the first time, Michigan officials said.

The Department of Natural Resources said Thursday it had confirmed the presence of viral hemorrhagic septicema, or VHS, in fish samples from waters as far north as Cheboygan, Michigan — only about 15 miles (24 kilometers) from where Lake Huron meets Lake Michigan.

VHS previously had been found in only two Great Lakes — Ontario and Erie — and in Lake St. Clair, which links Erie and Huron. But officials have predicted the virus eventually would spread across the entire system, where the $4.5 billion (euro3.47 billion) fishery is a crucial segment of the economy.

How damaging the virus turns out to be will depend largely on whether fish develop immunity, said Kelley Smith, chief of the DNR's fisheries division.
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Last Edited by Phennommennonn on 08/14/2012 07:01 AM