February 8, 2011

 

More Chilean salmon farms suspected of ISA infection

 

 

Chile's aquaculture centres has been classified as suspected of the Infectious Salmon Anemia (ISA) virus has increased from 11 to 14 in the country.

 

In this regard, they clarified that one of these centres is awaiting sequencing: the Ballenas 1, belonging to the company Cupquelan in the Aysen region.

 

The 14 farms thought to be suspected of infection are owned by the following companies: Cupquelan: 6; Los Fiordos: 2; Pesquera Itata: 2; Australis Mar: 1; AquaChile: 1; Acuimag: 1; Aquagen: 1.

 

According to the latest update by Senapesca on the status of the virus, 11 fattening centres are in the stage of "populating", two are "harvesting", and one is currently undertaking "elimination."

 

In relation to sites that fall into the category of suspected or confirmed outbreak, the entity referred to Bahia Perales, owned by Acuimag, located in the Magallanes region.

 

This cultivation centre is in a position to "harvest/eliminate."

 

The increase in suspected cases of ISA in the Aysen Region is of concern to salmon producers in the area.

 

According to the director of Sernapesca Aysen, Alex Urban, "the region is aware of the infection, which could spread to all salmon aquaculture sectors. However, this is not a cause for alarm, since it is a HPR0 strain."

 

This virus may be presented by two strains: HPR7b and HPR0.

 

If the salmon are infected with the first strain, it is likely that most fish during the fattening will die, while the second variant is unlikely to result in the fish even showing clinical signs of the disease.

 

"While there are aquaculture farms with an ISA virus which is highly pathogenic, the vast majority of these areas present the ISA HPR0," Urban explained.

 

Sernapesca reiterated that there "are field audits of various farms present on the coast of Aysen constantly being carried out, in order to determine mortalities and disadvantages that occur due to the presence of the ISA virus."