Salmon Saved From Epidemic Thanks to Virus Discovery Image
credit: Wikimedia Commons Farmed Atlantic salmon make up a
popular portion of the more than 110 million ton-farmed fish
industry—but a deadly and, until now, mysterious affliction
threatens the commercial future of the fish. New research,
however, may help researchers save Atlantic salmon on farms and
in the wild. Image credit: fotoroto/Flickr Heart and skeletal
muscle inflammation is an often fatal disease first discovered
in Norway in 1999. Since then, it has spread through Norway and
the United Kingdom, infecting more than 400 fish farms. The
disease, which destroys heart and muscle tissues, kills 20
percent of infected fish and may not be limited to aquaculture.
Because farmed fish often escape their pens, or come into
contact with nearby wild populations, it is feared that the
disease may jump off the farm—possibly creating a large-scale
epidemic. Fish farms often allow contact with nearby wild
populations. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons Now, ne