The La Crosse Fish Health Center staff helped Fort McCoy with a fish health assessment on waters in the fort’s boundaries.  Fort McCoy is a 60,000-acre military installation located in southwestern Wisconsin. 

Fish health center staff worked with John Noble , the fisheries biologist on Fort McCoy.  The Fort is planning on removing a small dam, and restoring the stream to a cold water trout habitat.  This in turn would kill all the warm water species living in the current impoundment. 

Fort employees plan on netting warm water species and transferring them to other lakes on the base.  Before this transfer occurs, a fish health assessment was preformed to make certain there were no harmful fish pathogens present.

For three months, fish health center staff have examined almost 200 fish from four different lakes and impoundments.  The main pathogen of concern was Largemouth Bass Virus (LMBV).  

LMBV only affects largemouth bass, but is carried by most members of the sunfish family and some members of the perch family.  The fish were also screened for other viruses and bacterial pathogens.  All of the samples tested came back negative for viral and bacterial pathogens.