fish to fish through water transfer, as well as through contaminated eggs, and bait fish from infected waters. The emerald shiner is a particularly popular bait fish in the Great Lakes region, and is among the species afflicted. Survivors of the disease can become lifelong carriers of the virus, contaminating water with urine, sperm, and ovarian fluids. The virus has been shown to survive two freeze/thaw cycles in a conventional freezer, suggesting both live and frozen bait could be a transmission vector. In Europe, the gray heron has spread the virus, but it does so mechanically; the virus is apparently inactive in the digestive tract of birds. Symptoms Fish that become infected experience hemorrhaging of their internal organs, skin, and muscle. Some fish show no external symptoms, but others show signs of infection that include bulging eyes, bloated abdomens, bruised-looking reddish tints to the eyes, skin, gills and fins. Some infected fish have open sores that may look like the lesions from other diseases or from lamprey attacks. There may also be a nervous form of the disease where fish are constantly flashing and showing abnormal behaviour. Diagnosis Field diagnosis Living fish afflicted with VHS may appear listless or limp, hang just beneath the surface, or swim very abnormally, such as constant flashing circling due to the tropism of the virus for the brain. External signs may include darker coloration, exophthalmia ("pop eye"), pale or red-dotted gills, sunken eyes, and bleeding around orbits (eye sockets) and at base of fins. Genetics researchers at the Lake Erie Research Center at the University of Toledo are developing a test that will speed diagnosis from a month to a matter of hours. Gross pathology (non-laboratory) VHSV is a hemorrhagic disease, meaning it causes bleeding. Internally, the virus can cause petechial hemorrhaging (tiny spots of blood) in internal muscle tissue, and petechial or severe hemorrhaging in internal organs and other tissues. Internal hemorrhaging can be observed as red spots inside a dead fish, particularly around the kidney, spleen, and intestines, as well as the swim bladder, which would normally have a clear membrane. The liver may be pale, mottled with red hyperemic areas, the kidney may be swollen and unusually red, the spleen may be swollen, and the digestive tract may be empty. External signs are not always present, but if they are, hemorrhaging on the skin's surface can appear as anywhere from tiny