ISA spreads to Chile's freshwater lakes, trout

Officials are also admitting for the first time what many have suspected -- the virus has spread to the region’s farmed trout, said Marcela Lara, a veterinary doctor at Chile’s Directorate of Fisheries (SERNAPESCA), who is is responsible for monitoring the ISA epidemic.

Although the virus has been detected in the freshwater environment, she said it is not presently considered an outbreak; the fish exhibit no clinical signs of the virus and are not sick, she said.

Marcos Godoy, technical manager at research lab Biovac, said detection of the virus in freshwater, where hatchery fish are grown before they are transferred to sea cages, impacts a company's ability to transfer juvenile fish to grow-out sites, potentially limiting production further.

SERNAPESCA