As of January 2, 2009, the Scottish government has declared the presence of a second Infectious Salmon Anemia (ISA) outbreak among farmed fish populations. The virus manifests itself as severe anemia, darkening of the liver, and internal hemorrhaging, and results in very high mortality rates. While the disease is not transmissable nor dangerous to humans, the outbreaks can cause a major shift in fish production from that area, as entire populations must be destroyed in order to avoid further spread or contamination of other fish, according to Scottish Law and the Diseases of Fish Act of 1937.
Scotland’s Fisheries Research Services are currently engaged in investigating and controlling the outbreaks through a number of measures, including taking samples and performing laboratory analyses from different stocks, and restricting the movement of live and dead fish to and from infected areas.
Consumers should be aware of the disease, as it may result in shifts in fish supplies and result in increased prices for farmed Atlantic salmon. Wild Pacific salmon is safe from the disease, and those wild stocks remain unaffected.