A deadly disease has been diagnosed in B.C. farmed salmon and linked to a widespread virus.
The study, published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE, is the first to find heart and skeletal muscle inflammation, or HSMI, in salmon at B.C. fish farms. The disease can wipe out up to 20 per cent of a farmed population.
Researchers also showed a correlation between HSMI and piscine reo-virus, suggesting the two might be linked.
Emiliano Di Cicco, co-author of the study, said the findings could have negative consequences for B.C.’s salmon farming industry, which had an estimated net value after marketing costs of $476 million in 2013.
Amy Smart – Victoria Times Colonist –Â March 13, 2017.
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