Test results have shown that two harmful fish viruses are unlikely to be the culprits in a series of decimating fish kills in the Shenandoah River.

Study rules out another fish-kill theory

By Robert King -- Daily Staff Writer

Test results have shown that two harmful fish viruses are unlikely to be the culprits in a series of decimating fish kills in the Shenandoah River.

A state task force searching for the cause of the kills received results on the viruses from Cornell University earlier this month. The research means the task force can focus on other potential causes of the kills.

"Our scope and our area of interest is so broad that it is nice to take some things off the table," said Don Kain, a water compliance manager with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality's Harrisonburg office. Kain is a co-chair of the task force.

The fish kills started in 2004 in the Shenandoah River and have reoccurred every spring since. The usual victims are the adult smallmouth bass and redbreasted sunfish.

The task force had sent 40 fish-kill victims from all parts of the Shenandoah River and Cowpasture River, which experienced a fish kill last spring, to Cornell University.

The university examined the fish for evidence of two viruses.

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