A virus that causes lethal salmon anemia has been detected in Pacific Northwest waters, announced the New York Times on Monday.

The story by Cornelia Dean and Rachel Nuwer says the virus is highly contagious and has spread in countries like Chile and Scotland. This is the first time it has been spotted off the Pacific coast.

Concerned about declining fish populations, researchers from British Columbia’s Simon Fraser University and other organizations tested 48 juvenile sockeye salmon in Rivers Inlet, on the central coast of British Columbia. Two fish out of the small sample pool tested positive for the virus.

Dean and Nuwer say that salmon farms affected by the virus have lost 70 percent or more of their fish in recent decades. It’s possible that the virus made its way from Europe to North America through Atlantic salmon eggs purchased by US salmon farms.

For more information, read the story.