HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) — Scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey say they’ve found a fish pathogen for the first time in the Eastern United States, in Frederick County.
Biologist Vicki Blazer said in a statement Tuesday that the pathogen, Dermocystidium, is similar to one found previously only in Pacific Coast salmon and trout.
She says the gill infection was found in Blue Ridge sculpin in Catoctin Mountain Park near Thurmont in 2015. Blazer says this is also the first time the pathogen has been found in the United States in a species other than trout and salmon.
A similar pathogen has been linked to salmon and trout mortality in the Pacific Northwest.
Blazer says it’s not known how the pathogen will affect sculpin populations, or if other species may be affected.
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