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POSTED: October 18, 2007

From: whelang@michigan.gov
Subject: Additional VHSv Test Information
Date: October 11, 2007 8:38:47 AM GMT-04:00
To: ******

The attached shows that longer duration exposure to salt and borax will reduce virus concentrations to below detection. Short duration exposure will not. High temperature exposure (37 C) will also reduce the virus, even at a relatively short exposure time of 2 hours, and this effect will likely be increased as you increase the water temperature.

Many thanks to Jim Winton and his staff for their efforts on this.

Hope this helps,

Gary

Guide for Certification of Status of a Facility and Status of Fish Health

POSTED: October 10, 2007

APHIS-VS Announcement
Sept. 27, 2007
Source: http://tinyurl.com/2dvkhe

APHIS Makes Funding Available for Activities Related to the Control of
Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service (APHIS) is making $1.5 million in contingency funds
available for activities related to the control of viral hemorrhagic
septicemia (VHS). Such control activities include confirmatory testing,
surveillance and compliance, and education and outreach efforts. These
activities will help to prevent the spread of VHS into aquaculture
facilities.

VHS is a destructive pathogen that causes internal hemorrhaging and
death in a wide range of fish species. 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 in Michigan, New York and Wisconsin.

The disease does not pose a risk to people, but it has been found to
affect many different species of fish, including several commercially
farm-raised species in the United States previously not known to be
susceptible to the disease.

The contingency funding that APHIS is providing will be used for
surveillance and compliance activities and other VHS-related efforts.
These include: laboratory upgrades to USDA's National Veterinary
Services Laboratories to support confirmatory testing; and an
educational campaign that promotes biosecurity efforts and addresses
human-related activities which -though not easily regulated- could
spread the disease.

Surveillance activities will be risk-based and focus on states in the
Great Lakes watershed and those states in surrounding watersheds. APHIS
will develop cooperative agreements with state departments of natural
resources, state departments of agriculture, tribal agencies and other
appropriate agencies for surveillance and compliance efforts.
Surveillance data collected in the coming months will give APHIS more
information on VHS to better target future surveillance and regulatory
actions.

On Oct. 24, 2006, APHIS issued a Federal Order to immediately prohibit
the importation of 37 susceptible species of live fish into the United
States from Ontario and Quebec, Canada-the two provinces that have
reported VHS outbreaks. The order also prohibited the interstate
movement of the same fish species from eight states in the United States
(Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania
and Wisconsin) that have reported incidences of VHS in wild fish or that
are at immediate risk of acquiring the disease because they share
watershed areas with states in which the disease has been detected.

APHIS amended the order on Nov. 14, 2006, to allow for movement and
importation of susceptible fish species under conditions that mitigate
the risk of spreading VHS; and on May 4, 2007, to allow for
catch-and-release fishing activities. Restrictions under the Federal
Order will continue until APHIS publishes an interim rule establishing
appropriate VHS-related fish importation and interstate movement
criteria.

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

POSTED: October 10, 2007

Scientists seek deadly fish virus in Saginaw Bay

http://www.mlive.com/news/bctimes/index.ssf?/base/news-10/1191944722158620.xml&coll=4&thispage=1

10/09/07 By JEFF KART TIMES WRITER
State officials are using newly awarded federal funds to help search
for a deadly fish virus in the Saginaw Bay watershed.

The virus, called viral hemorrhagic septicemia, or VHS, was detected
earlier this year in northern Lake Huron.

State Department of Natural Resources officials will be taking samples
and running tests in the next week in parts of the Saginaw Bay watershed
to see if the virus has spread.

One concern centers on six state-run fish hatcheries, which are used
for raising fish for stocking purposes. A walleye brood stock is located
in the Tittabawassee River.

''We want to know what sort of risk we might be running if we decide to
take eggs and sperm from those fish,'' said Gary Whelan, DNR fish
production manager.

Other testing will be done in Tawas and Bay Port.

The efforts are being paid for with part of $1.5 million in contingency
funds recently made available from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, said Karen Eggert, an agency
spokeswoman.

VHS causes hemorrhaging in the skin of infected fish, resulting in
large red patches on their sides and head and internal organ failure.
The virus is not a threat to humans, but is considered an emerging
disease in the lakes.

VHS likely was introduced into the Great Lakes around 2002 via the
ballast water of ships, experts say.

Of the $1.5 million, $800,000 is being distributed to states. Michigan
is receiving $134,000 and adding a match of $57,000, Whelan said.

The money will pay for testing up to 140 lots of fish for the virus at
a Michigan State University aquatic animal health lab.

''We're going to be able to expand the number of waters that we can
test for VHS, so we can better determine where the disease is - and
hopefully where it's not,'' he said.

The Saginaw Bay watershed, Michigan's largest, is considered a
high-risk area for VHS.

Besides walleye, lake whitefish and lake trout will be sampled, Whelan
said.

He said the threat to the Great Lakes from the virus is still unknown.
Large-scale fish kills blamed on VHS have occurred in the last two years
in Lake Ontario, Lake St. Clair, Lake Erie, Thunder Bay near Alpena and
Budd Lake in Clare County, according to the DNR and USDA.

Whelan said measures put in place to control the spread of the virus
seem to be working. The USDA has issued emergency orders that restrict
the movement of live fish over state and national boundaries, according
to information from Eggert.

''Unlike what some people think, the virus is not everywhere,'' Whelan
said.

But he added, ''It's pretty likely that, sooner or later, it will get
into most of Lake Huron.''

It's not known what course VHS will take.

It could kill off susceptible adults and disappear into the background.
Or, it could move from susceptible adults to young fish, and have major
impacts, Whelan said.

POSTED: October 8, 2007

From: whelang@michigan.gov
Subject: Brining and Borax Effects on VHSv
Date: October 8, 2007 8:43:03 AM GMT-04:00
To: ******

Attached is a brief report on the experiments done so far on brining and borax and their effects on VHSv. More information will be coming.

Gary

Brining and Borax Effects on VHSv

POSTED: October 7, 2007

Gary,

We ran your experiment. Neither salt (0, 25, 50 or 100%) nor boric acid (0, 25, 50 or 100%) had any significant ability to inactivate VHSV in a 20 min exposure. The salt was totally ineffective at all concentrations and the highest concentration of boric acid reduced the titer less than a log. I'll send the data. I was surprised the borax wasn't effective as I thought the solution would be more acidic than it turned out to be when we measured it. Longer exposures might help, but we ran both experiments at 20 min per the brining procedure.

Jim

POSTED: October 2, 2007

NCRAC Workshop Notice

POSTED: September 24, 2007

DNR Says Hatchery Fish Show No Sign Of Virus: http://www.channel3000.com/news/14168113/detail.html

WILD ROSE, Wis. -- A state fish hatchery won approval to stock thousands of brown trout in Lake Michigan and its tributaries after meeting new requirements aimed at reducing the risk of spreading a deadly virus found in fish.

The Department of Natural Resources said no DNR-raised fish or hatchery water supply in Wisconsin tested positive for the virus. But the DNR and the state Agriculture Department still are requiring testing for the virus before fish from any DNR hatchery can be used for stocking.

POSTED: September 24, 2007

From: whelang@michigan.gov
Subject: FO245 Fish Health Certification Guide
Date: September 24, 2007 9:08:45 AM GMT-04:00

Attached is the Fish Health Certification Guide as discussed under FO-245. The first step is to have your facility certified to hold the fish. The key here is to get the requested information to us for review and we should be able to handle this step mostly by phone. From there, we will work with you to develop the best method to sample your facility when you are ready to begin to hold listed prohibited species in FO-245. Please completely review the attachment and we are ready to work with you to get certified free bait into the marketplace.

Gary

Guide for Certification of Status of a Facility and Status of Fish Health

POSTED: September 12, 2007

Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia cases confirmed in Ontario
Source: http://tinyurl.com/2pfgza

Ottawa, August 22, 2007- The Government of Canada today announced that the Great Lakes strain of Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia has been detected in fish from Hamilton Harbour and the Thames River in Ontario. These two findings mark the first detections of the disease in 2007 in Canada.

Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia is an infectious viral disease that can cause illness and death in fish, but does not affect human health. Fish were initially tested by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and the University of Guelph before Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia was confirmed by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

These findings fall within the Ontario ministry's identified management zone for the disease. Therefore, no changes are planned to existing Ontario live fish movement controls implemented in early 2007. Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia has been detected in the St. Lawrence River and Great Lakes basin since 2005.

The Government of Canada, in collaboration with the Provinces of Ontario and Quebec, is currently conducting a surveillance program to better understand the geographic distribution of the virus and affected species. To date, fish from six sites in Ontario and Quebec have been tested, and no additional cases of Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia have been detected. The results of this program, once analyzed, will help guide actions that federal and provincial governments may take to further manage the disease.

A similar, complementary surveillance program is also underway in the United States to provide a complete picture of the presence of Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia in the Great Lakes basin.

A full report of 2007 Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia findings from the joint federal-provincial surveillance program will be released in the fall. This program is expected to continue for the next two years. Two provinces will continue to collect fish in the fall of 2007 with the collaboration of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources will continue to collect additional samples with provincial funding from the Canada-Ontario Agreement Respecting the Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem.

For information:
Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Media relations: 613-228-6682
Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources
Media relations: 416-314-2106
Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Media relations: 613-993-5413

See http://tinyurl.com/32gg7a for additional CFIA on VHS.

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