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![](media/image1.wmf){width="6.4944444444444445in"
height="1.1305555555555555in"}

Jim Rogers (202) 690-4755

> Jerry Redding (202) 720-4623

**USDA TO HOLD PUBLIC MEETINGS ON VIRAL HEMORRHAGIC SEPTICEMIA**

WASHINGTON, Dec. 22, 2006 \--The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal
and Plant Health Inspection Service today announced that it will hold
public meetings on viral hemorrhagic septicemia (VHS), a destructive
pathogen responsible for several large-scale fish deaths in the Great
Lakes region. The meetings will be held in Colorado and Tennessee Jan.
9, 2007, and in Michigan and Pennsylvania, Jan. 10, 2007, from 8:30 a.m.
until 12 p.m. local time. Registration for the meeting opens at 8:00
a.m. and is required.

The purpose of these meetings is to educate the public and all
interested parties on the current measures in place to prevent the
spread of VHS, a disease that affects at least 37 fish species, and to
gather suggestions from the public on preventing and containing this
disease. Written comments submitted at the meetings will be added to the
meeting records.

Interested parties can attend any or all meetings held in the following
locations:

-   January 9―Lakewood, Colo., at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services
    office, 134 Union Boulevard, First Floor Conference Room; and in
    Memphis, Tenn., at the Peabody Hotel, 149 Union Avenue.

-   January 10―Romulus, Mich., at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Detroit Metro
    Airport, 8000 Merriman Road; and in Coraopolis, Pa., at the
    Pittsburgh Airport Marriott, 777 Aten Road.

VHS produces clinical signs in fish including internal hemorrhaging and
death. It does not affect humans. On Nov. 14, APHIS issued a modified
federal order to allow Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York,
Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin to move live species of fish
susceptible to VHS interstate under conditions designed to prevent the
spread of the disease. Conditions for interstate movement of these fish
vary depending on whether the live fish are being transported for
slaughter, research or other purposes. The modified federal order also
allows the importation of salmonids into the United States from Ontario
and Quebec, Canada, under the normal rules for importation of that
species. The original federal order was put into place on Oct. 24 in
response to the rapid spread of VHS in the Great Lakes region and the
potential impact of the disease on a growing number of fish species.

Notice of this action is scheduled for publication in the Dec. 22
*Federal Register*.

For more information on the meeting please contact Jill Rolland,
aquaculture specialist, USDA, APHIS,VS, 4700 River Road, Unit 46,
Riverdale, Md. 20737-1231; (301) 734-7727.

\#

Note to Reporters: USDA news releases, program announcements and media
advisories are available on the Internet. Go to the APHIS news release
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