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Published Date: 2012-06-22 09:44:26
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Infectious salmon anemia - Canada (03): (NS)
Archive Number: 20120622.1177180

INFECTIOUS SALMON ANEMIA - CANADA (03): (NOVA SCOTIA)
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Date: Wed 20 Jun 2012
Source: CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) News [edited]
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/story/2012/06/20/ns-isa-outbreak.html

Fish farm quarantined after suspected ISA outbreak
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There is evidence of another outbreak of infectious salmon anemia (ISA) at one of Cooke Aquaculture's fish farms in Nova Scotia.

Cooke spokesperson Nell Halse said the company is co-operating with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency [CFIA] and provincial inspectors.

"We are also pressing CFIA to move much more quickly with their lab work as we are anxious to move quickly and aggressively to remove suspect fish to protect the rest of the farm," she said, without identifying which fish farm it was.

"This is a relatively small farm and the 2 cages represent only 1 per cent of our production in the province, so it does not (affect) our overall plans for Nova Scotia."

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said it began an investigation 12 Jun 2012, and has quarantined the facility. Preliminary tests indicate the presence of ISA, but further confirmation is necessary, according to the agency.

An outbreak of ISA at a Cooke facility in Shelburne in February resulted in the company destroying 700 000 fish. The federal government will compensate the company for those fish, up to a maximum of CAN 30 [USD 29] per fish, but Halse said no money has been paid to Cooke yet.

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[This highly contagious disease can be insidious, with an initially low mortality rate; however, the cumulative mortality can sometimes exceed 90 per cent if the disease remains unchecked.

Infectious salmon anemia virus (ISAV) is a member of the genus _Isavirus_ in the family Orthomyxoviridae. Hemorrhagic kidney syndrome is an old name for the disease in Atlantic salmon. In coho salmon, it has also been called icterus syndrome.

ISA is a disease of Atlantic salmon (_Salmo salar_) caused by an orthomyxovirus and affects mainly fish maintained in marine water or exposed to the sea. The disease is systemic and lethal, characterized by severe anemia and hemorrhages in several organs. It is a disease of great economic impact for the salmon industry.

The differential diagnoses for infectious salmon anemia include other causes of anemia and hemorrhages, as well as winter ulcer and septicemias caused by _Moritella viscosa_.

Outbreaks of infectious salmon anemia can be diagnosed by virus isolation, the detection of antigens and RT-PCR. A few isolates from sick salmon have been difficult to culture, even when viral nucleic acids can be found. The avirulent isolates carried subclinically in wild salmonids can usually be detected only by RT-PCR.

Infectious salmon anemia is an OIE-listed disease, as well as a regulated aquatic animal disease in Canada under the Health of Animals Act and supporting regulations that are administered by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).

Nova Scotia may be found on the interactive HealthMap at http://healthmap.org/r/1AMf.

A photograph of an Atlantic salmon may be found at http://www.tdsfb.org/pictures/pics640/lun19nov05(6).htm.

Portions of this comment have been extracted from http://www.cfsph.iastate.edu/Factsheets/pdfs/infectious_salmon_anemia.pdf. - Mod.TG]

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