The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has announced the adoption of new emergency regulations to help prevent the spread of the Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia (VHS) virus to additional waters in the State. The new emergency regulations, which were filed with the Department of State and took effect on Friday, March 9, 2007, replace previously enacted emergency regulations and reflect some changes incorporated as a result of public comments on the limits of the possession, sale, transfer, taking and release of certain baitfish and other live fish species to be placed in New York waters. VHS is a pathogen of fish and does not pose any threat to public health.

VHS was first confirmed in New York waters in May 2006 in Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River, and has now also been confirmed in several fish species in Great Lakes basin waters in New York State, Conesus Lake and in other states. Once a fish is infected with VHS, there is no known cure. Because of the often fatal virus's ability to spread, and potential impact to fisheries, recreation, and the economy, the World Organization of Animal Health has categorized VHS as a transmissible disease with the potential for profound socio-economic consequences.

VHS can be spread from water body to water body through a variety of means, not all of them known at this point. One known pathway is through the movement of fish, including baitfish. DEC, in cooperation with the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University, has sampled fish from waters across the state, and except for Conesus Lake, VHS has not been confirmed in fish from any water outside the Great Lakes basin.