SALMON VIRUS UNDER CONTROL

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- In a situation reminiscent of Europe's livestock woes on land, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has reported that nearly 150,000 salmon have been slaughtered so far in response to an outbreak of infectious salmon anemia (ISA) in Maine. According to that state's Department of Marine Resources, several Maine aquaculturists voluntarily depopulated cages of their stock that had come into contact with salmon sickened with ISA. The fish were destroyed to prevent the spread of the virus, which is not harmful to humans but is fatal to the fish. The slaughter was confined to three cage sites, which comprise companies' net pens, according to officials. The pens were spread out in the Gulf of Maine and the Bay of Fundy and hold as many as 70,000 salmon apiece. Control efforts are continuing, officials said.