SEATTLE -- Scientists in Washington state are concerned about a deadly, contagious virus recently detected in wild salmon in British Columbia.
Researchers in British Columbia announced Monday they had found the influenza virus in two juvenile sockeye salmon on B.C.'s central coast, the first time in the Pacific Northwest.
"Whether you are a fisherman or somebody who likes to have salmon the the barbecue or enjoys seeing salmon spawning, I think we all need to be concerned about it," said Randy Ericksen, with the Wild Salmon Center.
The virus has caused devastating losses at fish farms in Chile. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife's John Kerwin on Tuesday said his agency wants to refine its testing methods to improve detection of the virus.
The state tested about 56,000 fish last year and so far has not found signs of infectious salmon anemia. U.S. Geological Survey scientist James Winton calls the news a disease emergency.
He says officials on both side of the border should step up research, surveillance and testing.
Farms hit by the virus lost 70% or more of their fish. Until now, the salmon-killing virus had never been detected on the U.S. West Coast.
"When you hear something like this, we don't want to jump to conclusions right away, but we need to look at this real seriously," said Jack Glass, a professional fisherman and guide in Oregon.
Fishery experts have now called for widespread testing to find out how far the virus has spread.
