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DEC Confirms Virus in Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River Fish

Cornell University, USGS Document Cases of Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) today announced the discovery of viral hemorrhagic septicemia (VHS) virus in several fish species from Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River. The virus is a pathogen of fish and does not pose any threat to public health.

The virus was first detected in preliminary tests in May 2006 in round gobies involved in a mortality event on the St. Lawrence River. This is the first time that VHS was found in fish within New York State. The virus was isolated and identified in a cooperative effort between DEC, the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University and the Western Fisheries Research Center of the United States Geological Survey. Since VHS is a reportable disease to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), the presence of the virus was confirmed by the OIE Reference Laboratory in Denmark on June 9, 2006.

In recent weeks, large numbers of dead round gobies have been observed along southern Lake Ontario and eastward through the Thousand Islands area. Gobies are an invasive species from the Black and Caspian Sea region, likely introduced into the Great Lakes by ocean-going ships in the mid-1990s. More recently, eighteen dead and dying muskellunge were collected in the Thousand Islands. The St. Lawrence River supports a world famous, trophy muskellunge fishery. The timing of these die-offs corresponds with spawning season for both species, which is a stressful period during which fish are more vulnerable to bacterial and viral infections.

DEC is working closely with fish pathologists at Cornell's College of Veterinary Medicine to determine if other fish species in Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River are susceptible to this strain of VHS, as well as which species may act as carriers of the disease.

VHS virus is relatively common in continental Europe and Japan, where it has affected both freshwater and saltwater fish. Prior to 2005, VHS outbreaks were limited in North America to saltwater fish species from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Systemic VHS infections are most often associated with trout and salmon, including rainbow, brown and lake trout, as well as Chinook and Coho salmon. In 2005, VHS was associated with die-offs of freshwater drum (sheepshead) and round goby in the Bay of Quinte (Ontario), as well as muskellunge in the Michigan waters of Lake St. Clair. To date, there is no indication that the strain of VHS identified in Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River is affecting trout and salmon species. It is not known how VHS virus was transferred to the Great Lakes, or how long it has been in these waterways.

For more information about VHS or to report new information about large fish mortality events, the public is encouraged to contact their local DEC regional office. A listing of regional office contact information can be found at www.dec.state.ny.us/website/about/abtrull3.html on the DEC website.

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