Piscine othoreovirus, or PRV, may not be as deadly for west coast fish populations as initially thought.
PRV has been linked to an inflammation disease that has proven extremely fatal to Atlantic salmon populations in Scandinavian countries.
But, according to a study worked on by DFO scientist Mark Polinski, the virus does not have the same affects on Atlantic salmon in Pacific waters.
Researchers found that Pacific-dwelling fish that were infected with PRV did not develop the same severe symptoms as their eastern brethren.
Scientists believe that this can be attributed to genetic differences in both the virus and fish in Canadian waters, compared to those originally studied in Norway.
