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| Rare Disease Hits Lake St. Clair Muskies
HARRISON TWONSHIP (AP) – Researchers have identified a new bacterial disease in muskies caught in Lake St. Clair, Michigan’s most popular fishing lake. The disease is called piscirickettsia and first was identified in 1989 in farmed salmon in Chile. Its first symptom usually is the appearance of small white lesions on the skin, according to Paris-based Office International des Epizooties, which monitors animal disease worldwide. The disease can damage a fish’s kidneys, liver and spleen. Until now, the illness has been little-seen in US waters. But Mohamed Faisal, professor of aquatic and animal medicine at Michigan State University, now reports cases in muskellunge caught in Lake St. Clair. Muskies grow to 40 pounds in the lake. The fish disease is not believed to be harmful to humans, Faisal said. But he said more study is needed to determine its effect on the fish. In Chile, millions of young salmon raised on farms died from the disease in 1989. But the bacteria’s effects on St. Clair muskies are not yet known.
Source: Iron Mountain Daily News, 2/6/3.
Anybody heard about this stuff? Yikes, Lake St. Clair is part of the Great Lakes system.
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