Australia to spend over $11mn to eradicate carps by releasing herpes virus into rivers

rt.com

Australia will spend more than US$11 million in a bid to exterminate European carp by releasing a virulent strain of herpes into the country’s largest waterway.

As much as 15 million Australian dollars will be spent on funding the clearing of the Murray-Darling Basin from the country’s worst freshwater feral pest. This will be included into Tuesday’s federal budget, Australian authorities said on Sunday.

Interestingly enough, the war on fish is to be waged by an unusual means – the water will be contaminated with a special type of herpes, known as koi herpes... it causes kidney failure in carps, attacks their skin and kills the fish after sitting tight in its system for about seven days.

“It causes high death rates in common carp and in the ornamental koi carp. No other species of fish, including goldfish, are known to be affected by the virus,” CSIRO official website says.

“It affects the European carp by attacking their kidneys, their skin, their gills and stopping them breathing effectively,” Australian Science Minister Christopher Pyne said, according to ABC news.

“They have the virus for a week before they show any symptoms and it suddenly kills them within 24 hours,” he added.