ISA scare appears unfounded
New tests have failed to confirm the presence of the pathogenic strain of the ISA virus at a salmon site in the Faroes, prompting speculation that earlier test must have picked up a non-virulent strain.
On 14 July, Bakkafrost announced that the Faroese Veterinary Authority got suspicion of pathogenic ISA virus at its farming site A-73 Hvannasund Norður, after a routine surveillance test.
ISA exists as both a non-pathogenic variant, which is called ISA HPR-0, and as a pathogenic variant, which is called ISA HPR-del. PCR-analyses indicated that the latter was present at the site.
During the last week, the Veterinary Authority has undertaken two extensive tests at the site in a bid to confirm the suspicion of pathogenic ISA. However, the results of these have all been negative and do not prove the presence of pathogenic ISA. The Veterinary Authority has therefore affirmed that the virus must be a not very virulent variant, which may be a possible explanation of the difficulty in finding the virus again.
According to Bakkafrost, the site has not had any signs of disease and the biological performance has been good, both before the routine surveillance test and during last week, and no unusual mortality has occurred.
However, in order to follow the letter of the law, the Veterinary Authority will continue increased surveillance for the coming period at the site and will also carry out extra tests on neighbouring sites.
Acquisition approved
The results come on the same day that Bakkafrost’s takeover of P/F Faroe Farming, a salmon producer that operates in the southern part of the archipelago, was approved by the Faroese Registry and the Competition Authorities.
As a result, Bakkafrost now owns 100% of the shares in P/F.
