Nova Scotia now has its first cases of a rare parasite that kills oysters.
Dermo disease can increase the mortality rate of the oysters and prevent them from growing properly, but it does not pose any risk to human health, according to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).
The cases come from oyster samples collected in Mergomish, Nova Scotia. This is the first case in Nova Scotia and the second in Canada. Last week, the CFIA said Canada’s first case had appeared in New Brunswick.
Several agencies are working to limit the spread, including the CFIA, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, as well as the Nova Scotia Department of Fisheries.
However, the disease can only spread from oyster to oyster and through contaminated waters.
As those groups work to determine how extensive the disease has spread, they’re already working to curb the spread by:
- Controlling the movement of oysters in the Merigomish area
- Investigating the source of disease
- Encouraging other scientists, harvesters or anyone in the fishing industry to monitor the health of molluscs and to notify DFO or the provincial government if they notice oysters are not growing as much or are dying more often
- Providing more information to people in the fishing industry about how to detect the disease and how to control the movement of oysters
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