PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Contagious cancer has hit shellfish in Washington.
Soft-shell clams in Puget Sound have increasingly been diagnosed with bivalve transmissible neoplasia, according to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in June. While researchers originally detected a low level of the infectious disease in species along the eastern U.S., they have since seen it spread to the West Coast — with a “severe outbreak” impacting Washington.
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The study led by the Pacific Northwest Research Institute noted that scientists initially detected the cancer in 45% of the 47 soft-shell clams tested in Triangle Cove in April 2022. The cancer was also prevalent in 13% of shellfish tested in Stanwood months later.
But the prevalence in both locations surged to about 75% by 2024 — marking “one of the most significant outbreaks of bivalve transmissible cancer documented in the region,” according to PNRI…