No ISA virus found in farmed or wild salmon, CFIA investigation shows
BCSFA, December 2nd, 2011
Further follow up testing by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency continues to confirm that there is no Infectious Salmon Anemia (ISA) in British Columbia.
The news is welcomed by the BC Salmon Farmers Association, whose members have been seriously affected by the misleading information presented to the public of BC by irresponsible activists who continually seek to damage the reputation of our responsible farming community.
"We are glad to see the CFIA's quick response to these initial reports," said Mary Ellen Walling, Executive Director of the BCSFA. "It is good to see that our testing results - which have never shown a presence of ISA - have been validated by CFIA's extensive follow-up on these reports."
In mid-October, a press release from Simon Fraser University trumpeted two presumptive positive results in Sockeye salmon from Rivers Inlet - 100 km north of the nearest salmon farm. Those involved in the release insisted this was proof ISA was present and said the source was salmon aquaculture.
BC's salmon farmers however, have been testing for the disease regularly since 2002 and have never found ISA. The CFIA release today stated that after reviewing that sampling program, they are confident in those results.
Follow-up testing to that initial release showed that the positives were not repeatable- a key piece to any diagnostic process. Hundreds of samples have been tested , and no iSA has been found. Follow up testing on the initial positives has also shown no ISA to be present.
Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) testing used to identify ISA is prone to false positives, which is why follow-up testing is always so important in identifying its presence. For more info on PCR testing, click here.
"This is certainly an example of people with a clear agenda manipulating the scientific process to create unsubstantiated fear about our industry," said Walling. "There's good reason why testing for disease like this includes a follow-up procedure, and it was irresponsible of those activists and institutions involved in the first release to act without respect for this process."
BC salmon farmers were also relieved to hear comment from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans regarding a paper leaked to media earlier this week, reportedly showing evidence of ISA many years ago. The BCSFA had never heard of the paper before these reports. According to a statement from DFO follow up testing to that report had shown no presence of ISA.
The BCSFA represents salmon farm companies and those who supply services and supplies to the industry. Salmon-farming provides for 6,000 direct and indirect jobs while contributing $800-million to the provincial economy each year.
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To read the press release from CFIA, http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/corpaffr/newcom/2011/20111202e.shtml
To read the Ministerial statement from the DFO, http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/media/statement-declarations/2011/20111202-eng.htm
To read the backgrounder on how DFO protects aquaculture species from disease, http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/media/back-fiche/2011/20111202-eng.htm
