Salmon virus outbreak at Nova Scotia fish farm has spread, minister says

HALIFAX - Nova Scotia's fisheries minister says a fish farm in the province has been ordered to kill all of its salmon because a virus previously found there has spread.

Sterling Belliveau says the Canadian Food Inspection Agency gave the order to Cooke Aquaculture's fish farm in Shelburne Harbour.

In February, the federal agency ordered the company to kill fish in two pens and quarantine its site after an outbreak of infectious salmon anemia was detected during routine testing.

Belliveau says the latest order will result in the deaths of thousands of fish in up to 24 pens.

But he says he has no concerns the virus has spread beyond the site, adding that it hasn't shaken his confidence in the farmed salmon industry.

The virus poses no threat to human health or food safety, but it can kill up to 90 per cent of the salmon it infects, depending on the strain.