Federal authorities have quarantined a Nova Scotia salmon farm after a suspected case of a contagious virus was detected a week ago.
The suspected infection was detected by the Nova Scotia Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture and happened at a farm owned by Cooke Aquaculture.
Infectious salmon anemia (ISA) is an incurable and destructive virus that affects both wild and farmed salmon. The company has destroyed two cages of fish.
Neither Cooke Aquaculture nor the government agencies investigating would say which of the company’s Nova Scotian salmon farms is the suspected source of the virus.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is trying to confirm the initial tests that found the ISA.
“It’s a concern for the salmon farmers because there’s no treatment for it. So although it usually doesn’t cause really catastrophic large-scale losses, you can get losses chronically over an extended period of time. Since there’s no treatment, you need to detect it early, which hopefully it was in this case,” said Roland Cusack, Nova Scotia’s chief veterinarian for aquatic animal health.
Infected Salmon Anemia is not a danger to humans. It was last detected in Nova Scotia in 2003.
