Canada: MSX oyster disease found in Darnley Basin, P.E.I.

DARNLEY, P.E.I. — With recent findings of an oyster disease in P.E.I. waters, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is doing additional sampling for a multinuclear sphere, known as MSX. Kathy Brewer-Dalton, MSX incident commander for the CFIA, told SaltWire during an interview on Aug. 15 that the agency’s polymerase chain reaction test had most recently resulted in a positive finding of MSX in the Darnley Basin area on Aug. 9, which was later confirmed after conducting a DNA test. The disease, which is not harmful to humans, depends on the presence of a parasite in the oyster it infects, Brewer-Dalton explained. “MSX is a disease caused by a protozoan parasite called Haplosporidium nelsoni. So, it is a bit of a tricky disease, but MSX is the disease caused by that protozoan parasite,” Brewer-Dalton said. The federal government has placed five primary control zone areas in P.E.I. to mitigate the further spread of the disease. Those zones are in effect in Bedeque Bay, Malpeque ...