FISHERIES — U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-WA, is calling on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to independently confirm the presence of a deadly virus found in two Pacific salmon in British Columbia, the Associated Press reports

Canadian researchers recently announced they detected infectious salmon anemia disease in two juvenile sockeye salmon for the first time on the West Coast. Canadian government officials are awaiting tests to confirm the results. The virus has caused losses at fish farms in Chile and elsewhere.

See the initial discusson on this virus discovery in this previous blog post.

Cantwell and Alaska Senators Lisa Murkowski, a Republican, and Mark Begich, a Democrat, sent a letter Wednesday to the chairwomen of the Appropriations commerce subcommittee asking them to prioritize research into the virus. The senators also urged NOAA to run its own tests on the salmon.