A fish virus that recently showed up in central Ohio has experts worried about some Illinois rivers. Viral hemorrhagic septicemiam, or VHS, has caused mass die-offs of Great Lakes’ fish.
Becky Lasee is with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. She says the discovery in Ohio is the first time VHS was found outside the Great Lakes basin, raising concerns about other bodies of water in the Midwest.
LASEE: We have tested fish from the Illinois River and we haven’t isolated it yet. But it’s very difficult to test as many fish as you need to.
Lasee says the closest the VHS virus has been found to Chicago is Milwaukee. It poses no threat to humans.