Major salmon names hit by ISA fears

They both involve major names in the industry.

 

In the first, ISA was detected at a SalMar-operated location in Tromsø municipality.

 

Staff at SalMar notified the Norwegian Food Safety Authority several weeks ago of their suspicions, which were based on the results of PCR analyses conducted after sampling at the site.

 

The Food Safety Authority confirmed the ISA diagnosis just over a week ago.

 

The farm site is now empty of fish and a restriction zone is being established to prevent, limit and combat ISA. Such restriction areas usually consist of a protection zone and a surveillance zone and entail limits on traffic movement.

 

In the other case, ISA is suspected at a location owned and operated by Lerøy Aurora Sjø, according to the Food Safety Authority.

 

Lerøy Aurora Sjø notified the authority on 9 October about findings compatible with the presence of ISA. The suspicion was based on positive analysis results after sampling fish at the location.

 

The Food Safety Authority is planning an inspection of the facility to take follow-up samples that will be sent to the Veterinary Institute for possible confirmation of the disease ISA. Such suspicions are usually confirmed and, if so the usual restrictions on movement etc will be put in place.

 

Norway has been hit by a steady number of ISA cases over the past few months, but it should be emphasised that the viral infection, although costly for companies, is not harmful to humans.