A handful of United States senators have asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to take action to prevent a deadly overseas virus from infecting domestic catfish populations.
Their primary concern is yellow catfish virus (YcCV), a highly transmissible and deadly pathogen first identified in Chinese aquaculture operations in 2020. The virus exhibited a mortality rate of nearly 90 percent, the senators claim, and can survive the freezing and thawing process.
“These characteristics present a serious biosecurity concern for global aquaculture and warrant immediate attention from U.S. regulators,” the lawmakers told U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins in the 11 June letter.
Channel catfish virus (CCV), which is already present in the U.S., is also listed as a concern.
“An outbreak of a highly pathogenic virus such as YcCV or CCV could have devastating economic and ecological consequences,” the lawmakers added. “The mounting evidence surrounding YcCV and CCV underscores the need to ensure that emerging aquatic animal diseases receive appropriate attention and resources commensurate with their risk.”
The legislators asked the department to conduct a formal risk assessment of YcCV and CCV and their potential pathways to infect domestic fish and ensure that the onus is on exporting countries to demonstrate their products are free of the viruses before they are allowed to enter the U.S.
The letter was backed by the Alabama Farmers Federation and Catfish Farmers of America.
“Our farmers work every day to produce safe, sustainable, and high‑quality American catfish, and they should not be forced to shoulder the burden of proving the absence of foreign disease risks. USDA must require exporting countries to demonstrate that their products are free of these pathogens before entering our market. Protecting rural economies, American jobs, and our nation’s food security demands nothing less. We appreciate Senator Britt’s leadership and urge APHIS to act quickly to safeguard U.S. aquaculture from these emerging viral threats,” Catfish Farmers of America Executive Vice President Chad Causey said in a release.
The letter was led by U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Alabama) and signed by U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi), U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Mississippi), and U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama).
"Two highly contagious viruses are posing a serious threat to farm-raised catfish, and Mississippi’s USD 196 million [EUR 172 million] catfish industry cannot afford to wait. Senator Roger Wicker and I joined our colleagues in urging the USDA to act now to prevent these viruses from reaching U.S. waters and devastating one of our most important agricultural industries," Hyde-Smith said in a social media post.
