§ Mr. Dalyellasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the progress of the research at the Aberdeen Marine Laboratory into the columnaris organism as a cause of salmon disease.
§ Mr. RossFacilities have been provided at the Marine Laboratory and at Johnshaven to broaden the range of the research directed at identifying the precise nature and cause of the salmon disease. The work includes transmission experiments, histopathology and other investigations of infected hosts, tissue culture and virology. Valuable assistance is being given by other specialist research establishments and close contact is maintained with workers elsewhere. Although the causative agent is not yet known, the scientists are now generally of the opinion that the cause is a virus rather than the columnaris bacterium to which the disease was initially ascribed. Work is continuing to identify the virus concerned.