The Chilean Economy Minister, Pablo Longueira, referred to the overuse of antibiotics by the salmon industry and stated that "the government has not had any salmon vaccinated, unlike Norway who developed a vaccine."
According to experts, the overuse of antibiotics in the industry could cause people to become resistant to them, reports BioChile.
Mr Longueira said that a total of 325 tons of antibiotics are poured into the salmon industry per year in the 2200 miles of sea between Los Lagos and Magallanes.
The heavy use of antibiotics also raises concern that many ISA outbreaks in the area may be going unreported.
Biologists and experts say the ISA virus has never left the area and it is still finding ISA present in farms in the Los Lagos and Aysen regions.
Disagreeing with scientists, Mr Longueira said he was unaware of the presence of the virus in these regions and believes that it is a resurgence of the virus, which the government could have controlled if a vaccine had been developed fast enough.
