"Oyster Herpes’ Killer Virus Threatens $4 Billion Industry"

"Herpes has devastated 26 percent of France’s oyster production since the summer of 2008. Halfway around the world in Australia, the virus killed 10 million oysters in three days.

Researchers suspect climate change risks compounding the losses.

To learn more about how the virus and warmer ocean water affects Pacific oysters, researchers at CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, and the University of Tasmania are using dental gum to attach heart-rate monitors to a half-dozen of them. Another dozen Pacific oysters are wired up in an indoor lab, where light and temperature are modified to gauge changes in the oysters’ physiological reactions."

Phoebe Sedgman reports for Bloomberg News December 15, 2014.

SEE ALSO:

"The World’S Scallops And Oysters Are Mysteriously Dying Out" (Quartz)