FEDERAL ORDER - VIRAL HEMORRHAGIC SEPTICEMIA (VHS)

Topics concerning muskellunge and fisheries research, diseases, stocking and management.
Hamilton Reef
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Post by Hamilton Reef » Thu Jun 05, 2008 9:35 pm

New Ballast Treatment Could Protect Great Lakes Fish

ScienceDaily (Jun. 4, 2008) — A Michigan Technological University professor has developed a new water treatment that could help keep a deadly fish disease out of Lake Superior.

David Hand, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Michigan Tech, has devised a simple way to treat ballast water in vessels ranging from pleasure craft to ore boats. His method is designed to kill the virus that causes viral hemorrhagic septicemia (VHS), an often-fatal disease that has been attacking fish populations in the lower Great Lakes.

Hand's treatment is simple. The ballast water is disinfected with sodium hypochlorite—ordinary household bleach. Then it is treated with ascorbic acid, or vitamin C, which neutralizes the bleach before the water is released into the lake.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 104354.htm

Hamilton Reef
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Lake Michigan - VHS identified in Gobies in Wisconsin

Post by Hamilton Reef » Fri Jun 06, 2008 12:51 pm

This bad news was expected.

MADISON – Thousands of round gobies washed onshore on a Milwaukee beach last month were killed by the fish disease VHS, according to laboratory results returned today to Wisconsin fisheries officials.

The Department of Natural Resources received confirmation from the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory that viral hemorrhagic septicemia, or VHS virus, was isolated in three of four round gobies collected May 28 by DNR fish biologists. The four fish were among thousands of decomposing gobies piled up on the beach at Grant Park in Milwaukee along Lake Michigan, and were in good enough condition for testing, according to Sue Marcquenski, DNR’s fish health expert.

VHS, which is not a human health threat but can infect a broad range of native fish, was documented for the first time in Wisconsin in May 2007, including from fish in northern Lake Michigan near Algoma and Kewaunee.

The diagnosis of the round gobies with VHS represents the first time the virus has been found in the southern basin of Lake Michigan and the first time the disease has been found in gobies from this lake.

Fisheries Director Mike Staggs said that the news was not a surprise, given that the virus was previously found in Lake Michigan and because round gobies are among the species most susceptible to it, based on fish kills caused by VHS in Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River.

“The good news is that despite all the testing we’ve done this year and last year for VHS, we haven’t found the virus in waters beyond the Lake Michigan and Lake Winnebago systems,” he says. “And that the steps we’ve been requiring boaters, anglers and wild bait harvesters to take are working to contain the disease.

However, Staggs says, the discovery of VHS in Lake Michigan gobies highlights that “VHS continues to be a potentially serious threat to Wisconsin fish and that we need everyone to continue following the rules to prevent the spread of this disease.”

While gobies are an invasive fish, they are important prey for Lake Michigan yellow perch, walleye, lake trout and bass. Gobies also eat large numbers of quagga mussels and zebra mussels, helping control populations of these other invasive species that also can affect the amount and quality of food available to young fish, Marcquenski says.

VHS can spread among fish when healthy fish eat sick fish or absorb VHS-contaminated water contaminated through their gills. Fisheries officials have said the main way VHS can spread to new waters is by anglers moving infected bait fish to a new lake or river, with moving large quantities of contaminated water a distant second.

VHS, which was documented as the cause of large fish kills in the lower Great Lakes in 2005 and 2006, can infect several dozen native game fish, pan fish and bait fish.

This spring, DNR is testing fish from about 30 waters in the Wisconsin River basin for VHS as part of its monitoring program, and none have tested positive so far. Nor have any fish from other fish kills this spring tested positive for the virus so far.

In 2007, DNR tested more than 180 lots of wild fish from more than 50 waters and didn’t find the disease anywhere beyond Lake Michigan and Lake Winnebago. The state’s hatchery system also tested clean.

The gobies’ diagnosis with VHS brings to seven the total number of sites from which the virus has been confirmed, representing five different fish species. Drum from three different sites on the Lake Winnebago system, brown trout from Lake Michigan near Algoma, smallmouth bass from Sturgeon Bay, lake white fish from northern Green Bay and now the gobies from Lake Michigan near Milwaukee have all tested positive for the virus.

For more information on the VHS fish disease and the rules boaters, anglers and others must follow to prevent the spread of VHS, go to dnr.wi.gov/fish/vhs.

Hamilton Reef
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Post by Hamilton Reef » Fri Jun 06, 2008 3:24 pm

WI - Fish disease reaches local area
Invasive virus found in gobies at Grant Park

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=759152

06/05/08 By LEE BERGQUIST and DAN EGAN lbergquist@journalsentinel.com

Thousands of small fish that washed along the Lake Michigan shore at Grant Park in southern Milwaukee County were killed by an invasive fish disease, the Department of Natural Resources reported Thursday.

The fish - round gobies, which are themselves an invasive species brought into the Great Lakes two decades ago via oceangoing freighters - died from viral hemorrhagic septicemia, also known as VHS.

The Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory in Madison confirmed the presence of the disease in gobies that were found May 28.

DNR fisheries director Michael Staggs said the finding was not a surprise, because the virus has previously been found in Lake Michigan. However, this is the first finding of VHS off shore from Milwaukee, and the first time it has been found in the southern basin of Lake Michigan.

The finding is more bad news for Wisconsin's sport fishery, valued by the DNR at $2.3 billion a year. It also should concern Wisconsin's neighbors to the south, and not just those on the Great Lakes. The worry is that infected fish could bring the disease into the heart of the continent via the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, an artificial link between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River.

"It (the discovery) puts the disease that much closer to those states," said Staggs. "That is probably the thing that is the most concern."

The disease is not a threat to humans.

VHS was first found in Wisconsin in May 2007 in the Lake Winnebago system. Later that month, it was documented in brown trout in northern Lake Michigan near Algoma and Kewaunee. The disease was first discovered in the Great Lakes in 2005 and has been spreading steadily ever since. It has biologists' attention because it can kill more than two dozen species of fish.

In the latest finding, four fish tested for VHS were among the thousands of decomposing gobies at Grant Park.

Infected fish transmit the virus through their urine and reproductive fluids. It eventually causes blood vessels to weaken and hemorrhage, according to the DNR.

Some fish can develop antibodies. But over time, antibodies can decline, and the fish can start secreting the virus again and create new cycles of infection.

Even after the virus leaves the fish, scientists have found that it can move through the water and infect other fish for 14 days.

Staggs said the virus has even been known to stay alive in frozen bait.

DNR biologist Brad Eggold said there were numerous reports last year that the disease had turned up in southern Lake Michigan, but none was confirmed. He said the virus appears to be most active in fish in water temperatures ranging from the high 30s to low 50s, so this is the time of year fish kills would be expected.

"We've known it's in Lake Michigan, and it's not like the (lake's) southern basin is any different from the northern basin, so it's not a surprise that we're seeing it," he said.

To prevent the virus from spreading into the state's vast inland waters, the DNR has passed a new batch of rules that require boaters to drain all water from their vessels, containers and fishing equipment when leaving any state waters or when entering Wisconsin on land.

The rules also, among other things, prohibit transporting live fish or live fish eggs from any state waters. There is an exception for minnows obtained from a Wisconsin bait dealer, provided the minnows are used on the same body of water.

Hamilton Reef
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VHS fish disease found in yellow perch in Milwaukee

Post by Hamilton Reef » Mon Jun 16, 2008 8:45 am

News Release
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
DNR Central Office - Madison
PO Box 7921
Madison WI 53707
Phone: (608) 266-6790 Fax: (608) 264-6293

For Release: June 13, 2008

Contact(s): Brad Eggold (414) 382-7921 Mike Staggs (608) 267-0796 Randy Schumacher (414) 263-8672

VHS fish disease found in yellow perch in Milwaukee

MADISON – A week after the VHS fish disease was ruled the cause of a large round goby fish kill in Lake Michigan near Milwaukee, the same virus was detected in yellow perch collected about three miles from the fish kill site. The yellow perch were sampled as part of the Department of Natural Resource’s VHS surveillance project and annual spawning assessments by the Lake Michigan Fisheries Work Unit in Milwaukee.

Two Wisconsin labs, the Wisconsin Diagnostic Veterinary Laboratory in Madison and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service La Crosse Fish Health Center confirmed the presence of VHS in the yellow perch sampled on June 5 according to Sue Marcquenski, the DNR fish health specialist. DNR staff have tested yellow perch from Lake Michigan annually since 2006, anticipating that the virus would eventually make its way to this population. So far, the yellow perch do not appear to be part of a fishkill situation.

VHS, or Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia, is not a human health threat, but can kill a wide range of native game fish, panfish and bait fish. It was first diagnosed in the Great Lakes region in 2005, and caused large fish kills in the lower Great Lakes in 2005 and 2006. The virus was first found in Wisconsin in May 2007 in freshwater drum from the Lake Winnebago system, and later that month in several species of fish from northern Green Bay and Lake Michigan.

DNR Fisheries Director Mike Staggs says that no immediate impact from VHS is expected to be seen in yellow perch populations. While VHS can kill fish of all ages, the biggest impact appears to be on very young fish. As a result, it could take several years before any effects show up in the population in decreased reproduction, if they show up at all.

The 2008 yellow perch season opens Monday, June 16. Staggs notes anglers should go out and enjoy their sport for the time being. “We’ll continue to watch and study the situation, and we are well positioned to do that as part of a multi-state effort to monitor yellow perch populations and conduct research to find out what contributed to their decline,” he says.

The perch VHS results are significant because perch is an important sport and commercial species, and the population in southern Lake Michigan has been depressed for about 15 years. A decade ago, to deal with the situation, DNR closed down commercial fishing for the species to protect the remaining adult fish. In addition, sport bags were trimmed, and the opening date pushed back. In recent years, the population had been stabilizing. Staggs says the findings are not surprising and do not expand the known infected waters since VHS has been previously documented in Lake Michigan. Both yellow perch and round gobies are known to be highly susceptible to VHS.

“The results are also important, because they place VHS much farther south in Lake Michigan near Illinois and Indiana, and to the Mississippi River system via the Chicago ship canal,” he says.

VHS has never been associated with human illness since first being discovered in European fish decades ago (DHFS, May 2007). Fish can be infected by VHS, but may not show signs of disease. Such fish are safe to eat so long as the fish is properly cooked. However, as always, you should not eat fish you find dead, decomposing, or that appear sick, regardless of cause. Decomposing fish may attract other bacteria harmful to people.

While it is generally safe to handle fish, you should always wash your hands after handling fish.

The DNR has notified neighboring states and agencies of the finding. Thousands of fish were collected from about 75 other waters in Wisconsin this spring as part of a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) funded VHS surveillance project. Although many results are still pending, there have not been any other VHS positive test results so far. A map showing testing results for 2008 can be found on the DNR Web site.

Hamilton Reef
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DNR Encourages Anglers to Report Unusually Large Fish Kills

Post by Hamilton Reef » Mon Jun 16, 2008 12:43 pm

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 16, 2008

CONTACT: Gary Whelan 517-373-1280, Martha Wolgamood 269-668-2696 or Ann Wilson 906-228-6561

DNR Encourages Anglers to Report Unusually Large Fish Kills

In the wake of the recent discovery of viral hemorrhagic septicemia (VHS) in the Wisconsin waters of Lake Michigan and from a large inland lake in Ohio, Michigan Department of Natural Resources fisheries officials would like to remind anglers to report any unusual numbers of dead or dying fish.

"We certainly don't want everyone who sees a single dead fish floating to call it in," said DNR Fish Production Manager Gary Whelan. "But if anyone sees unusually large numbers of dead or dying fish, we want to know about it."

VHS is a disease caused by a virus that has been known to exist in Europe and on the West Coast of the United States for decades. It kills fish by causing internal bleeding.

First identified in the Great Lakes in 2005, VHS likely was carried into the lake by ballast water from oceangoing ships, probably from the Canadian Maritime Provinces. VHS is known to infect a wide variety of both sport and prey species and has caused mortality among a number of species in Michigan.

Although VHS has not been found in the Michigan waters of Lake Michigan, it has been found in northern Lake Huron, the St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair and Lake Erie as well as in Budd Lake near Harrison. The DNR has stepped up surveillance to find out how widespread the disease is in Michigan.

Anglers who observe significant numbers of dead or dying fish are asked to report the information online at www.michigan.gov/dnrfishing, or by calling their local DNR office or the Fisheries Division in Lansing at (517) 373-1280.

More information on VHS also is available on the DNR Web site.

The DNR is committed to the conservation, protection, management, use and enjoyment of the state's natural resources for current and future generations.

Hamilton Reef
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Post by Hamilton Reef » Tue Aug 05, 2008 11:14 am

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Aug. 5, 2008

Contact: Mary Dettloff 517- 335-3014

VHS Poster Available to Download on DNR Web Site

Department of Natural Resources fisheries officials have announced that a new downloadable, printable poster designed to raise awareness of Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia (VHS) is available at www.michigan.gov/vhs.

The poster bears the message: “Keep Our Waters Great! Don’t Dump Your Bait.” It can be printed as an 8x10 or 11x17. Easily laminated, the posters can be displayed anywhere anglers gather, such as bait
shops, launch ramps, or sportsmen’s clubs.

VHS kills fish by causing internal hemorrhaging. The disease impacts a wide variety of species - of both game and bait fishes -- and has been found in the Great Lakes and connecting waters on the east side of the
state and in the Lake Michigan waters of other states. Inland, VHS has been detected in Budd Lake near Harrison.
”There is no known treatment for VHS,” explained DNR fisheries biologist Gary Whelan. “Our only option is to try to prevent it from spreading in our lakes and streams. Simple measures designed to prevent the movement of organisms or water from one lake to another and disinfecting equipment will a go a long way toward slowing the spread of VHS.”

The DNR is committed to the conservation, protection, management, use and enjoyment of the state's natural resources for current and future generations.

Hamilton Reef
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Joined: Thu Apr 28, 2005 9:43 am
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Post by Hamilton Reef » Tue Sep 09, 2008 10:07 pm

From the Federal Register:

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
RULES
Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia; Interstate Movement and Import Restrictions on Certain Live Fish,
52173–52189 [E8–20852] [PDF]
[Federal Register: September 9, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 175)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 52173-52189]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr09se08-2]

http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdf/E8-20852.pdf

Hamilton Reef
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Post by Hamilton Reef » Fri Nov 14, 2008 10:16 pm

Viral Haemorrhagic Septicaemia In the Great Lakes Region Management and Science Needs Workshop Proceedings Report available at:
http://www.ijc.org:8080/glro/glro-web/c ... E%2008.pdf

Hamilton Reef
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Post by Hamilton Reef » Thu Jun 11, 2009 3:39 pm

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources Management of Walleye and other Coolwater Fish Production and Stocking Since Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia Emerged in the Great Lakes Basin1

http://michigan.gov/documents/dnr/Walle ... 9417_7.pdf

Hamilton Reef
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Post by Hamilton Reef » Thu Jun 18, 2009 7:55 pm

Great Lakes fish hatcheries could benefit from new test for deadly VHS virus

http://greatlakesecho.org/2009/06/18/gr ... #more-6449 06/18/09 By Sarah Coefield, coefield@msu.edu Great Lakes Echo

There may be hope for fishery managers still reeling years after a dangerous virus appeared in the Great Lakes.
The month-long wait for a viral hemorrhagic septicemia test has hobbled hatcheries that must test fish before introducing them to the region’s lakes and streams. Genetics researchers at the Lake Erie Research Center at the University of Toledo are working on a test that will speed up that diagnosis to a matter of hours.

The research, supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is one of several projects around the Great Lakes studying a virus that has cost the region tens of millions of dollars in staff time, lost hatchery capacity and research. The tourism and ecosystem impacts are as yet unknown, Marc Gaden, communications director for the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, wrote in an e-mail.

About $1.2 million from various sources has been spent on projects that seek to better understand the virus and develop diagnostic tests, said Gary Whelan, the fish production manager for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Division

The virus was first detected in the Great Lakes in 2005 and 2006 after it killed large numbers of fresh water drum, muskellunge, round gobies and yellow perch. Infected fish bleed from internal organs, muscles and skin. They pass it among themselves in urine and reproductive fluid or by eating an infected fish. The fish typically die from organ failure, but can carry the disease without showing any symptoms, making diagnostic tests imperative. Humans cannot catch the disease.

The virus has been detected in every Great Lake except Lake Superior and was recently detected in smallmouth bass in Green Bay on the western shores of Lake Michigan. The virus has been in Green Bay since 2007.

A faster diagnostic test is good for fisheries managers, who have drastically curtailed their stocking programs in the disease’s aftermath. “It would dramatically change a lot of things that we do,” Whelan said. “Right now we’re taking the very conservative approach …with our fish stocking programs on cool water fish because we don’t have the detection tools in place, and we cannot afford as a state agency to be spreading around VHS to water bodies,” he said. “We’re producing about 20 percent of what we normally do.”

“When the rapid test becomes available … we can potentially go back to full production on our cool water program.”

Fry stocking, the practice of introducing young fish into water bodies, has been particularly hard hit, said Mike Staggs, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Bureau director. “In the past we’ve stocked a lot of fish right after they hatch, particularly (after) a winter kill or … chemical treatment. You get those fish in there and there aren’t any predators. But … we have to test them for VHS, and it takes 30 days. By that time they aren’t fry anymore.”

The standard test exposes VHS-susceptible cells to fish tissues, typically from the spleen or kidneys. If the cells die, then investigators do a genetic test to see if VHS is killing the cell line. The positive result is easy - cell death typically occurs quickly, Whelan said. But confirming a negative - that the fish tissues don’t have the virus - can take several trials. “That’s the reason it takes 28 days - the negative takes so long,” he said.

The Great Lakes Genetics Laboratory’s test skips the cell exposures and goes straight to a genetic test, known as standardized reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. It’s different from other genetic tests because “you can actually quantify this virus,” said Lindsey Pierce, a doctoral student in the lab who works on the test. The test also helps decrease false negative and false positive results, she said.

The new test will identify which VHS virus strain a fish has, the amount of virus particles in the fish and whether the virus is actively replicating itself, said Carol Stepien, the Lake Erie Research Center director who is in charge of the project. That information will allow scientists to know if the fish would be contagious. If the virus is inactive, fish can’t spread the disease.

It still must be tested against the cell culture method to ensure its reliability and efficiency before it can be adopted by governmental agencies or the aquaculture industry.

While a faster test may help hatcheries get back on track, a lot of the other VHS-induced changes are here to stay.

“To us it’s just another invasive species issue,” Staggs said. “The kinds of things … we’ve asked anglers and boaters to do: don’t move live fish to other water bodies and drain water when you’re done fishing. Those aren’t real high standards to meet, but they’re things that if everyone did it would really reduce the main risk factors for moving a lot of (aquatic invasive) species.”

Whelan expects to be managing fisheries around VHS for the foreseeable future. “It’s probably going to be part of our background for a long time to come,” he said.

VHS Outbreaks in the Great Lakes http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie ... urce=embed

Hamilton Reef
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DNR Confirms Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia Virus in Baseline

Post by Hamilton Reef » Thu Aug 20, 2009 10:19 am

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Aug. 20, 2009

Contacts: Gary Whelan 517-373-6948, Steve Hewett 517-373-2842 or Mary Dettloff 517-335-3014

DNR Confirms Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia Virus in Baseline Lake and Lake St. Clair

The Department of Natural Resources announced today that it has confirmed the presence of Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia virus (VHSv) in samples of fish collected this spring in Baseline Lake in Washtenaw
County and in Lake St. Clair. Baseline Lake becomes the second inland lake in Michigan in which VHSv is present.

“These are the first positive detections since 2007 in Michigan’s waters,” said Gary Whelan, fish production manager for the DNR’s Fisheries Division. “The fish that tested positive were collected this spring during routine surveillance efforts, and were confirmed positive by multiple laboratories.”

After VHSv was first detected in Michigan, the DNR began a surveillance program to collect fish from a range of waters for testing each year. This program has been funded in part by grants from the U.S. Department
of Agriculture - Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS). Through June 2009, VHSv surveillance efforts have been conducted on 45 water bodies throughout Michigan.

Baseline Lake was sampled for the first time in 2009, and VHSv was found in brown bullheads that were collected during the survey. Baseline Lake is the second inland water body in Michigan in which fish have been found to be positive for VHSv -- the first was Budd Lake in Clare County in 2007. Other fish species sampled, including bluegills and rock bass, tested negative for the virus, Whelan said.

“There was no reported fish kill in Baseline Lake associated with these findings. These fish were simply collected as part of a routine survey program to look for VHSv around the state,” said Steve Hewett,
Lake Erie Basin coordinator for DNR’s Fisheries Division. “The future threat of this virus in Baseline Lake is not known, but we will be more closely monitoring fish for signs of VHSv in both the lake and adjacent waters to determine any effects of the virus.”

Anglers and boaters are reminded to visit the DNR Web site at www.michigan.gov/dnrfishing for specific ways to reduce the risk of spreading the disease.

“Detection of VHSv in brown bullheads in Baseline Lake means that anglers and boaters must continue to be vigilant and work collaboratively with us to prevent the spread of this virus to other waters. It is our opinion that their efforts to date have helped significantly to reduce the rate of spread of this virus, and we thank them for their efforts to date,” Hewett said.

The virus was also detected in smallmouth bass and muskellunge from Lake St. Clair, which has been positive for VHSv since at least 2003. The smallmouth bass were sampled during a fish kill in early June in
Lake St. Clair, Whelan said.

“It is highly likely that VHSv played a part in the fish kill and allowed a bacterial infection to become a disease agent by lowering the immune system’s ability to respond to the bacteria,” explained
Whelan.

The muskellunge were sampled in mid-May during their spawning period as part of the surveillance effort for Lake St. Clair. No mortality of muskellunge was observed this spring, and the last significant mortality
of muskellunge that was attributed to VHSv was in 2006.

“This result is not surprising and means that muskellunge in Lake St. Clair are still carrying VHSv,” Whelan noted.

Anglers are reminded to refrain from moving live fish between water bodies and to use and dispose of bait and baitfish properly. Boaters need to make sure their bilges and live wells are emptied prior to leaving a boat launch site and equipment must be cleaned and disinfected after use. The DNR Web site at www.michigan.gov/dnrfishing also contains information for anglers and boaters on rules that have been in
place to limit the spread of VHSv.

The DNR is committed to the conservation, protection, management, accessible use and enjoyment of the state's natural resources for current and future generations.

Hamilton Reef
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Lake Superior - WI & MI joint press release

Post by Hamilton Reef » Thu Jan 28, 2010 9:55 am

Fatal fish virus now in all of the Great Lakes
VHS detected in 28 freshwater species
A fatal fish virus has been detected in Lake Superior for the first time, meaning it has spread to all the Great Lakes, Cornell University researchers said Wednesday. State officials said it was understandable that VHS would have worked its way into Lake Superior, which is connected to Lake Huron by the St. Marys River.
http://www.freep.com/article/20100128/N ... reat-Lakes

PLEASE NOTE: This is a joint press release with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jan. 27, 2010

Contacts: Mary Dettloff (Michigan DNRE) 517-335-3014 or Mike Staggs (Wisconsin DNR) 608-267-0796

Michigan, Wisconsin Not Planning Regulation Changes in Lake Superior Based on Findings of Cornell University

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources today said the recent finding by a Cornell University research team of traces of Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia virus (VHS) in fish inhabiting Lake Superior would not lead to any immediate regulation changes for anglers or boaters.

Cornell University reported in a press release today that they had found trace amounts of VHS virus in organ samples taken from a small number of healthy fish in four sites in Lake Superior.
[http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Jan ... demic.html]

“We appreciate the efforts of Cornell University to help better understand this disease, but we also want to caution anglers and others who enjoy Lake Superior that this does not mean there has been a widespread outbreak of VHS in those waters,” said Michigan DNRE Director Rebecca Humphries. “What this study does indicate is that VHS has been observed in four locations in Lake Superior, but it is not everywhere. Based on this limited finding, Michigan is not planning to make any changes in its regulations at this time.”

Wisconsin DNR Secretary Matt Frank said that Wisconsin’s strong VHS protections were already set with Lake Superior in mind. “We’re disappointed with Cornell’s finding, but not surprised. The good news is that our VHS rules for boaters and anglers stay the same and will continue to protect our inland waters. We included Lake Superior when we originally passed regulations in 2007 because it’s directly connected to waters that already had the virus present. We appreciate the efforts of Wisconsin boaters and anglers who comply.”

The Cornell University-led research team spent several days in June collecting and sampling healthy fish in Lake Superior. Nearly 900 fish were collected from the lake, and a new screening tool used by the team found a preliminary positive result for VHS in a small number of fish collected from four points in the Lake Superior basin - Paradise/Whitefish Point, Chippewa County, Michigan; Skanee in Huron Bay in Baraga County, Michigan; Superior Bay near Duluth, Minnesota; and St. Louis Bay, also near Duluth. The only location that had a VHS sample confirmed as positive was at Paradise/Whitefish Point where VHS was confirmed in one sample from a yellow perch. Not all of the samples from this site, however, were confirmed to have VHS.

Humphries said the finding is not surprising, adding that finding a VHS-positive fish at the east end of the Lake Superior basin is where biologists have long thought a positive would be found first -- near the St. Mary’s River, which connects the basin to Lake Huron, a VHS-affected lake.

“VHS remains a threat to all the Great Lakes, and we will increase our efforts to slow the spread through public awareness of the simple things boaters and anglers can do to help,” Humphries said.

Frank said that the result underscores the importance of anglers and boaters taking required and appropriate steps to stop the further spread of VHS within Lake Superior itself, and to inland waters. “VHS has not gone away - whether you are boating or fishing in Wisconsin or Michigan, you should drain all water from your bilge, live well or bait bucket, and never take live fish away from any water,” said Frank.

Humphries and Frank said their agencies will continue collecting and testing fish for VHS in Lake Superior. Both states have been collecting samples of fish from Lake Superior for the last 3 years, and neither state has yet found any fish positive for VHS using rigorous, confirmatory testing procedures.

Anglers and boaters who recreate on Lake Superior can help both the Michigan DNRE and Wisconsin DNR by reporting any significant fish kills they encounter on Lake Superior to the agencies. Also, anglers and boaters should drain their livewells and bilge as they exit a lake. Boats should regularly be cleaned and disinfected after use, as well as any boating and fishing equipment.

Both states prohibit release of unused minnows back into the water. Unused bait should be disposed of on land or in a trash can. Also, both states prohibit the transfer of live fish from one lake to another without appropriate permits. Wisconsin has additional rules relating to the movement of live fish and the use and possession of live minnows.

For more information on VHS, please visit www.michigan.gov/vhs or www.dnr.wi.gov/fish/vhs.

St Clair Hound
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VHS is officially in all Great Lakes now...

Post by St Clair Hound » Thu Jan 28, 2010 6:53 pm

Lead, follow or get out of the way,
The Big Hound is comin through!

Hamilton Reef
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Post by Hamilton Reef » Mon May 03, 2010 6:39 pm

Evaluation of the Efficacy of Iodophor Disinfection of Walleye and Northern Pike Eggs to Eliminate Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia Virus
http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2009/3107/pdf/fs20093107.pdf

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