Heart and Skeletal Muscle Inflammation (HSMI)
A viral diseased much feared by Norwegian fish farmers, Heart and Skeletal Muscle Inflammation (HSMI) has found its way into farmed salmon stocks in British Columbia. "The concern is that it is a disease that hasn't previously been detected in B.C. and at the present time we really don't have sufficient evidence to know if it causes mortality or is a production issue here," said Kristi Miller, part of a team of federal scientists studying farmed fish samples from sites along the B.C. coast, to CBC News. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/farmed-salmon-bc-disease-hsmi-aquaculture-1.3593958
HSMI is known to cause lesions on farmed Atlantic salmon stocks in both sea and freshwater hatcheries. Typical signs of HSMI are abnormal swimming behavior, anorexia and up to 20 percent mortality. Autopsies of afflicted fish indicate circulatory failure, blood clots and yellowish/blood-filled livers.
