The state Department of Environmental Conservation has discovered Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia in Skaneateles Lake, the DEC announced Tuesday. Though the fish pathogen does not pose a threat to the public's health, it has resulted in thousands of rock bass and smallmouth bass washing up on shore.

Skaneateles Lake is the second place that VHS-infected fish have been found in New York outside of the Great Lakes, according to a DEC press release. The virus has been confirmed in Lake Ontario, the St. Lawrence River, Lake Erie, the Niagara River and Conesus Lake.

VHS, a thus far incurable disease, causes a fish's tissues, including internal organs, to hemorrhage, the DEC said. It affects all sizes of fish, and often those infected do not exhibit any external signs of having the disease. Though not all infected fish develop VHS, they can continue to spread it to others.

It is unclear what kind of effect VHS may have on Skaneateles' fish population, as the disease has caused fish mortalities ranging from a few fish to thousands of fish, the DEC said.

DEC staff investigated a fish kill of rock and smallmouth bass at Skaneateles Lake on May 8. The fish were then sent to Cornell University for testing, and the results came out positive, the DEC said. The fish have since been sent to the U.S. Geological Survey Lab in Seattle for confirmation.

DEC representatives are continuing to monitor the lake and are sampling bodies of water throughout the state to determine how far the disease has spread. On June 6, the department finalized regulations to help prevent the spread of VHS and other diseases into the state's inland waters. Such regulations restrict the movement of bait fish and the stocking of fish into New York's waters; they can be viewed at www.dos.state.ny.us/info/register/2007/jun6/pdfs/rules.pdf.