June 23, 2026 — A handful of United States senators have asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to take action to prevent a deadly overseas virus from infecting domestic catfish populations.
Their primary concern is yellow catfish virus (YcCV), a highly transmissible and deadly pathogen first identified in Chinese aquaculture operations in 2020. The virus exhibited a mortality rate of nearly 90 percent, the senators claim, and can survive the freezing and thawing process.