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November 9, 2007
USDA Amends
VHS-Susceptible Species
List
The
U.S. Department of
Agriculture's Animal and
Plant Health Inspection
Service (APHIS) has
amended its Federal
Order on viral
hemorrhagic septicemia
(VHS) by revising the
list of VHS-susceptible
species. Since the VHS
strain of concern is
only known to occur in
the Great Lakes region,
the updated list
includes only those
species found in
freshwater environments
in the United States and
Canada. The updated list
only includes those
species that have been
infected with VHS under
natural or
non-experimental
conditions and in which
the virus has been
isolated in a cell
culture with the strain
identified through
molecular detection.
VHS is a destructive
pathogen that, while not
harmful to people,
causes internal
hemorrhaging and death
in a wide range of fish
species. APHIS issued
the original October
2006 Federal Order in
response to the rapid
spread of VHS in the
Great Lakes and related
tributaries. That order
prohibited the
importation of 37
species of live fish
from two Canadian
provinces into the
United States and the
interstate movement of
the same species from
the eight states
bordering the Great
Lakes.
When APHIS originally
issued the order, the
agency took a
conservative approach
and restricted the
movement of all species
listed by the World
Organization for Animal
Health (OIE) as
susceptible to all known
strains of VHS. The
species no longer
affected by the Federal
Order include:
Atlantic Cod (Gadus
morhua)
Coho salmon (Oncorhynchus
kisutch)
Chum salmon (Oncorhynchus
keta)
Grayling (Thymallus
thymallus)
Haddock (Gadus
aeglefinus)
Herring (Clupea spp)
Japanese flounder (Paralichthys
olivaceus)
Pacific cod (Gadus
macrocephalus)
Pink salmon (Onchorhynchus
gorbuscha)
Rockling (Onos mustelus)
Sprat (Sprattus spp)
Turbot (Scophthalmus
maximus)
Whitefish (Coregonus spp).
APHIS also recently
determined that several
additional freshwater
fish species not
included in the original
order are susceptible to
VHS. These species
originate in freshwater
locations in the United
States and/or Canada and
have been infected by
the VHS virus under
natural (i.e.
non-experimental)
conditions of exposure.
Scientists have been
able to isolate the VHS
virus in these species
through laboratory
testing. As a result,
three new species are
now listed in the
Federal Order:
Lake whitefish (Coregonus
clupeaformis)
Spottail shiner (Notropis
hudsonius)
Trout-perch (Percopsis
omiscomaycus).
Two species that remain
on the Federal Order's
VHS-susceptible list
have had their
scientific names
clarified:
Shorthead redhorse (Moxostoma
macrolepidotum)
Silver redhorse (Moxostoma
anisurum).
APHIS issued the
original Federal Order
in response to the rapid
spread of VHS in the
Great Lakes region and
the potential impact of
the disease on a growing
number of fish species,
including species of
fish raised commercially
in the United States.
Dead and diseased wild
fish have been reported
in the St. Lawrence
River and in Lake Erie,
Lake Huron, Lake
Michigan, Lake Ontario
and Lake St. Clair.
Outbreaks of VHS have
also been reported in
inland lakes of
Michigan, New York and
Wisconsin.
The intent of the
Federal Order is to
prevent the introduction
of VHS into aquaculture
facilities by
controlling the movement
of live fish species
from the Great Lakes
region at risk of
harboring the VHS virus.
The order allows APHIS
to gather more
information on the
disease and puts a
federal regulatory
program in place that
allows for the
interstate movement of
fish susceptible to VHS
via testing and
certification.
This revised Federal
Order will remain in
effect until the interim
rule is published. Both
the modified and the
original emergency order
[and additional
information] can be
found on our Web site at
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/animal_dis_spec/aquaculture.
For additional
information, please
contact P. Gary Egrie by
telephone at (301)
734-0695 or by e-mail at
Paul.G.Egrie@aphis.usda.gov.
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