3 months ago
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SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) -- New research suggests rising temperatures in San Diego Bay is capable of spreading a deadly herpes virus that affects Pacific oysters.
The study, published in the journal Sustainable Microbiology, was co-authored by a team of researchers at UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography. It looked at the correlation between warmer waters in the bay and the acceleration of ostreid herpesvirus (OsHV-1) in Pacific oysters.
OsHV-1 was first identified in Pacific oysters in France in the 1990s, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.
According to the recent study, a microvariant of the virus was first detected in the area during a heatwave in 2018, which marked only the second time a virus of its kind had been documented in the United States.
The optimal temperature for farmed Pacific oysters is around 20°C, and anything higher could lead to an increased risk of mortality, the study said. Warmer waters also increase the likelihood of oysters being infected...
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