Novirhabdovirus sp. (VHS virus)

Viral Hemorraghic Septicemia (VHS) is a disease produced by a virus
that has been present in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence system since at least 2003.  It probably originated from the Atlantic coast of North America, but how it was introduced is unknown.  It has caused massive die-offs of several species of fish, including muskellunge, northern pike, yellow perch, walleye, and smallmouth bass.

See a factsheet for VHS (Kipp & Ricciardi 2006), prepared for NOAA's Great Lakes Aquatic Nondigenous Information System (GLANSIS).