CORNELL SCIENTISTS IDENTIFY DEADLY FISH VIRUS IN THE NORTHEAST UNITED STATES

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CORNELL SCIENTISTS IDENTIFY DEADLY FISH VIRUS IN THE NORTHEAST UNITED STATES
17 February 2007 - Cornell University

The College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation announced the discovery of viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus in several fish species from Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River. Unreported in North America until 1988, VHS is a rhabdovirus, a pathogen that can cause significant fish mortality. VHS does not pose any known threat to human health.

The first case of VHS in New York state was detected from a massive fish kill of round gobies in the St. Lawrence River in May 2006. The virus was isolated and identified in a cooperative effort between the Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine, the DEC and the Western Fisheries Research Center of the United States Geological Survey.

Dr. Paul Bowser, Cornell professor of aquatic animal medicine and Dr. Geoffrey Groocock, post doctorate associate in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Cornell, reported the case to the World Organization for Animal Health, and the presence of the virus was confirmed by the OIE Reference Laboratory in Denmark.

"In a large ecosystem, we're talking about the lower Great Lakes, there really is no treatment," said Bowser. "The best management option is to try and contain the spread of it as best we can."

Bowser's team at Cornell is working closely with the DEC to determine the scope of VHS infection and susceptibility in fish species in Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River, as well as species that may become carriers of the disease.

Since the first documented case of VHS in North America, the virus has been identified in several freshwater fish species, such as round gobies, muskellunge, freshwater drum, smallmouth bass, bullhead, yellow perch and crappie, in areas of Lake St. Claire, Michigan; Lake Ontario, Canada; and the St. Lawrence River through New York's Thousand Islands region, which is known for a world famous trophy muskellunge fishery.

Timing of the reported mortality events corresponds with spawning season for both muskellunge and round gobies, when fish are more vulnerable to bacterial and viral infections.

Isolations of VHS virus were limited in North America to saltwater fish species from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, including Chinook and Coho salmon, Pacific herring, Atlantic herring and cod . To date, there is no indication that the strain of VHS identified in Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River is affecting freshwater trout and salmon species. It is not known how VHS virus was transferred to the Great Lakes, or how long it has been in the system.

The VHS virus is relatively common in continental Europe and Japan, where it has affected both freshwater and saltwater fish. Systemic VHS infections are also most often associated with trout, including rainbow, brown and lake trout.

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About: Cornell University
Once called "the first American university" by educational historian Frederick Rudolph, Cornell University represents a distinctive mix of eminent scholarship and democratic ideals. Adding practical subjects to the classics and admitting qualified students regardless of nationality, race, social circumstance, gender, or religion was quite a departure when Cornell was founded in 1865.

Today's Cornell reflects this heritage of egalitarian excellence. It is home to the nation's first colleges devoted to hotel administration, industrial and labor relations, and veterinary medicine. Both a private university and the land-grant institution of New York State, Cornell University is the most educationally diverse member of the Ivy League.

On the Ithaca campus alone nearly 20,000 students representing every state and 120 countries choose from among 4,000 courses in 11 undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools. Many undergraduates participate in a wide range of interdisciplinary programs, play meaningful roles in original research, and study in Cornell programs in Washington, New York City, and the world over.

In his first inaugural address, at the Weill Cornell Medical College campus in Qatar in October 2004, Jeffrey Lehman, the first Cornell alumnus to become its president, articulated a vision projecting Cornell as "the transnational university of the future."

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