Salmon from a Bremnes Seashore farm in southern Norway tested positive for infectious salmon anemia (ISA) on 11 November, three days after salmon from a nearby farm operated by Mowi also tested positive for ISA.
The Norwegian Food Safety Authority, which reported the suspected ISA outbreaks, requires the slaughter or destruction of all salmon that could have come into contact with the diseased fish, and mandates the cleaning and disinfection of any site with an ISA outbreak, as well as the fallowing of the site for a minimum of three months.
The Bremnes Seashore farm suspected of ISA contamination is sea site 30036 Jørstadskjera in Finnøy municipality in Rogaland county. The affected Mowi farm is sea site 11913 Kjeahola in Finnøy municipality in Rogaland county. The two sites are less than 10 kilometers apart.
"The Food Inspectorate takes a serious look at the discovery," Norwegian Food Safety Authority Regional Director Ole Fjetland said in a press release.
Fish samples from both sites has multiple positive analysis results from PatoGen Analyze AS, with sequencing revealing the presence of a disease-causing variant of the ISA virus. The Norwegian Food Safety Authority is in the process of inspect both sites and will take additional samples to verify the presence of ISA.
In the meantime, as a preventative measure, salmon farming companies are being prohibited from relocating fish into or out of the localities of Jørstadskjera and Kjeahola without permission from the authority.
Additionally, a separate farm in southern Norway operated by Mowi was found to have the presence of pancreatic disease, the authority announced on 4 November. It said Mowi has initiated the slaughter of all fish at the affected Halsavika site in Vindafjorden in Rogaland.
Photo courtesy of Mowi Norway AS
