Australia Releasing Herpes Virus Into Rivers
(Thanks to our friends at Your News Wire for making us aware of this story. Stories like this always seemed so far fetched, like we should know better after all the other crazy choices we’ve made, but no- here we go again.)
It seems that Australia plans to spend 15 million dollars on exterminating European carp. And how are they planning to do it? By releasing a strain of herpes virus into the country’s largest waterway.
If you are shocked and shaking your head right now, join the club.
Their plan will see the staged release of a carp-specific herpes virus into the Murray-Darling basin. They feel safe doing this because CSIRO scientists have been testing the specific virus in Australian native fish species– and other animals found along the river– for the past seven years. They’ve established that it’s safe to release into the ecosystem without worry as to any harm it might cause other species.
Their current control measures, which include trapping, commercial fishing and exclusion, are expensive and haven’t been effective at controlling the invasive species over large areas or for any length of time. And the carp are also threatening others species by making the water turbid, causing erosion and out-competing native fish for food and resources. The virus will affect the carp’s skin and kidneys; it takes about seven days to have a noticeable effect but it takes hold, it will usually kill the fish within 24 hours.
Researchers are sure that the “killer koi herpes virus”, which is spread by infected carp touching each other and in surrounding water, will not infect any other form of life, not humans, birds, animals or crustaceans (like yabbies that might feed on the dead or diseased carp bodies). Something has to be done, although I’m not convinced this is the best solution, because the economic impact of carp on the river has been estimated at $500 million a year.
Let’s hope this release goes as planned and other species in the ecosystem, or humans, are infected. Again, it seems like an unwise move to me, remember the story we shared about GM mosquitos being in the center of the Zika outbreak? Who knows though, maybe we’ll all be pleasantly surprised and its intended effects will curb the river being overrun. We shall see.
Source: Your News Wire
