Canada’s food inspection agency has detected the first confirmed cases of the aquatic animal disease dermo in oyster samples collected in Quebec and Prince Edward Island.
Oyster samples taken in Egmont Bay, P.E.I., were found to have dermo, also known as perkinsosis, says a July 4 statement from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). This is the first confirmed case in the province.
“Dermo does not pose a risk to human health or food safety, but it can cause increased oyster mortality and decreased growth rates,” the federal agency said.
Dermo is a “serious” disease in both cultured and wild oysters that is caused by the parasite Perkinsus marinus. The disease usually infects oysters between the ages of 1 and 3, and can kill the oysters, with mortality rates typically varying from 50 percent to 70 percent, according to a CFIA fact sheet on dermo….