Virus? What Virus?

[Lipripper]

[h=1]Canada officials say no salmon virus found in BC[/h] [h=5]PHUONG LE, Associated Press[/h] [h=5]Updated 06:01 p.m., Tuesday, November 8, 2011[/h]






SEATTLE (AP) — Canadian government officials said Tuesday they have found no signs of a potentially deadly, infectious salmon virus in British Columbia.
Researchers with Simon Fraser University in British Columbia announced last month they had detected infectious salmon anemia, or ISA, in two wild juvenile Pacific salmon collected from the province's central coast, prompting fears the influenza-like virus could wreck the salmon fishing industry in the Pacific Northwest.
"There's no evidence that (the virus) occurs in fish off the waters of British Columbia," Dr. Cornelius Kiley, a veterinarian with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Tuesday, announcing results from the government investigation.
Government tests of the original 48 samples collected from B.C. researchers at a national laboratory have turned up negative for the virus, Canadian officials said. Additional tests performed on other samples have also turned up negative, because the quality of some of those samples was too degraded to be conclusive.
The results are consistent with independent testing conducted by a lab in Norway, officials said. While that lab found one weak positive reading among multiple tests, it also noted the sample was poor and results could not be reproduced, said Peter Wright, national manager for the Research and Diagnostic Laboratory System with Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
Officials are continuing to test samples for the salmon virus, which has affected Atlantic salmon fish farms in Chile, Maine, New Brunswick and other areas. It does not affect humans.
Rick Routledge, a researcher with Simon Fraser University who announced the detection of the salmon virus in October, said Tuesday that one positive reading by an independent laboratory in Norway shouldn't be dismissed entirely.
"Given that he did get a positive reading once, from a degraded sample, I don't feel comfortable with the notion that you could dismiss that out of hand," he said. "I hope that further sampling and testing would continue."
The news that Canadian officials had not detected the virus, however, was welcomed by B.C.'s salmon farmers.
"This is a significant result for everyone involved: researchers, regulators, wild salmon advocates, salmon farmers and our coastal communities," Mary Ellen Walling, executive director of the B.C. Salmon Farmers Association, said in a statement. She added: "We hope this update will allay those concerns."
The virus was initially detected in two of 48 juvenile sockeye salmon collected as part of a long-term study of sockeye salmon led by Routledge. Fred Kibenge of the Atlantic Veterinary College at the University of Prince Edward Island confirmed the presence of the virus in two fish.
The report that the virus had been detected in wild Pacific salmon for the first time on the West Coast, prompted concern by state and federal officials in the U.S.
U.S. senators have called for increasing surveillance, testing and research. Maria Cantwell, a Democrat from Washington, and Republican Lisa Murkowski and Democrat Mark Begich — both from Alaska — have also called for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to run its own tests on the salmon.
Meanwhile, Washington state officials have been working in recent weeks with U.S. agencies, tribes and Alaska state officials on a plan to sample additional fish for the virus.
Tuesday's news isn't likely to change plans to increase screening in Washington state, said John Kerwin, who supervises the fish health unit at state Department of Fish and Wildlife.
"I believe we need a surveillance program, given the uncertainties," he said Tuesday, adding: "I'd rather err on the caution when we're talking about our natural resources."
"Regardless of this being a positive or negative (result), it's not appropriate to ignore," Dr. Jill Rolland, director of aquatic, swine, equine and poultry health program with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said in an interview last week.
The virus was first reported in North America in Canada in 1996, and first detected in the U.S. in Maine's Cobscook Bay in 2001.
"This is not the final end of the issue," said James Winton, who directs the fish health section of the U.S. Geological Survey's Western Fisheries Research Center in Seattle. He said he had not yet reviewed the details of the Canadians tests.
Plans in place for increased surveillance will continue, though perhaps without the immediate urgency had Canadian officials confirmed the virus, he said. The disease may not currently be here, but it's still a threat if it is to be introduced in the future, Winton said.
"The fact that they can't replicate the findings of the WHO lab does not necessarily negate the possibility that the virus is still escaping detection," Winton said. "We don't know right now."






Read more: http://www.seattlepi.com/news/artic...n-virus-found-in-BC-2258346.php#ixzz1dEauVnQU

 

[Seafever]

Of course THE CANADIAN FOOD INSPECTION AGENCY is going to find NO virus.

Just like in the USA, where the FDA manipulates the food industry at will.

A Canadian "official" said it. We, as unwashed un-educated grass-roots riff-raff, would never dare challenge or refute
what a "government official" said, if we know what's good for us...

Corporate representatives would never lie to us would they?

Wait a minute.....for some reason the word Monsanto keeps popping up in my mind.....

Anyway....this is exactly the result Alexandra Morton said would occur in her article on page 8 of the Nov/Dec B.C. OutDoors Sportfishing magazine , entitled " Weighing In".

You can read up on how the DHO shafted Dr.Kristi Miller.....another anti-net pen advocate/researcher that is on the same plane as Alexandra.

There really are some good good people that do scientific research.

Problem is when it gets to the top of the political/corporate ladder..then it's all about manipulation and money.

 

[GLG]

[h=1]Deadly salmon virus absent in latest tests[/h]

By Judith Lavoie, Postmedia NewsNovember 9, 2011


Fears that a deadly virus is infecting B.C. salmon appear to be unfounded, federal officials said Tuesday, after tests on wild sockeye smolts failed to turn up any cases of infectious salmon anemia.

"There are no confirmed cases of ISA in wild or farm salmon in B.C.," said Con Kiley, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's national aquatic animal health program director.
"There's no evidence that it occurs in fish off the [coast] of B.C."
The results run contrary to earlier tests based on the same samples, which found two of 48 sockeye smolts tested positive for the deadly European strain of the virus. The World Animal Health ISA reference laboratory at the University of Prince Edward Island also found coho, chum and chinook tested positive.
However, questions remain because of the poor quality of the samples and federal officials agreed more testing is needed.
"The supplementary results must be considered inconclusive because of the poor quality of the samples," Kiley said.
"Additional testing will continue and the results will be provided when we are ready."
Peter Wright, national manager of DFO's research and diagnostic laboratory system, said the samples were received in such poor condition that no definite conclusions could be drawn.
"Most are halfway or totally degraded," he said.
Independent testing of the samples by a lab in Norway that found one positive reading, but reported that the sample was poor and the test could not be reproduced, Wright said.
The province has retested some fish samples from salmon farms, B.C.'s chief veterinary officer Paul Kitching said.
"We are still unable to find the virus - absolutely zero," he said.
The European strain of ISA has devastated salmon farms in Norway, Chile and Eastern Canada, but is not believed to be fatal to Pacific salmon.
Simon Fraser University Prof. Rick Routledge, who collected the sockeye samples in Rivers Inlet, said he is not surprised by the CFIA/DFO results.
"These samples had been captured and stored for other purposes and everyone recognized there was a strong possibility that the virus would be degraded over time," he said.
The smolts weighed only a few grams and the P.E.I. tests were carried out on the hearts, which are no longer available to researchers, Routledge said.
"Nothing is known about where the virus might concentrate in sockeye salmon," he said.
Routledge hopes the federal government will start widespread testing of fresh samples as soon as possible.
Samples from a tributary of the Fraser River were collected by biologist Alexandra Morton, a vocal opponent of fish farms, who fears the virus could have been introduced through imported salmon eggs.
Morton, who agrees some samples were degraded because of freezing, said she wonders why tests are not being carried out on fresh samples she has already submitted and why DFO is not immediately collecting more samples.
"If the samples are degraded, what confidence can we have in the tests?" Morton said.
"Given the very severe nature of this virus, wouldn't it be wise to be testing out here?"
Mary Ellen Walling, executive director of the B.C. Salmon Farmers Association, said the results are welcome news.
"This is a significant result for everyone involved - researchers, regulators, wild salmon advocates, salmon farmers and our coastal communities," she said.
Initial allegations, made at a news conference at Simon Fraser University, that the virus had been found in wild salmon were inflammatory and potentially affected international markets, she said.
"We're pleased to see the thorough way CFIA is following up, but are dismayed at the way campaigners used this to create fear about our operations," she said.

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun


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