MADISON, Wis. -- As tests confirmed that a deadly fish virus is in Lake Michigan, veterinarians gathered on Friday to get training on how to test fish for the virus.

Viral hemorrhagic septicemia makes fish bleed to death but experts said it is not a threat to people, pets or wildlife. VHS was found earlier this month in fish from the Lake Winnebago system in east central Wisconsin.

The discovery of VHS in Lake Michigan does not trigger a statewide application of VHS rules on boats and anglers however because prior rules already included it.

A group from states across the country as well as federal and state animal health experts gathered at the Gollon Bait and Fish Farm in Dodgeville to learn how to properly collect tissue to test for VHS.

Wisconsin's leading fish health expert, Department of Agriculture Veterinarian Myron Kebus, said the training is in demand.

"Really the developments have been so rapid that it's a challenge for states to keep up," Kebus said.

On Friday an instructor sat at one of several long tables littered with pans and microscopes as the group watched him demonstrate proper fish cutting and collection procedures for VHS. The vets practiced dissection and tissue collection pulling apart some very tiny fish organs like the spleen and kidney.

Wisconsin is leading the way in the cutting-edge science, WISC-TV reported. A 7-year-old University of Wisconsin Veterinary School and state Agriculture Department course is now teaching high-level animal health experts, public and private, how to test for VHS.

Experts said that it's important to collect a good tissue sample from some tiny fish organs.

"Because of where the virus likes to live, they prefer that we get those organs because it's more likely that they'll be able to isolate virus from it," said Patricia Fox, who works for veterinary services for the USDA in Madison.

UW veterinarian Michael Maroney and Indiana Board of Animal Health veterinarian Jennifer Strasser said that VHS testing is easier said than done. But they said that learning the correct process is crucial, saying they need all the tools they can muster to battle their biggest fish threat ever.

"We're preparing for that, if we do find a positive. But we're hoping to keep it out," Strasser said.

Kebus said that despite the quick spread of VHS he's fairly confident Wisconsin can deal with it because so many here have been trained in it -- more than 60 veterinarians over the last two years.

VHS can produce high fish kills and is contagious to virtually every kind of fish, WISC-TV reported.

Fish Farmers Worried Virus Could Ruin Them

The state's fish farmers said they are worried the viral fish disease that's made its way into Wisconsin waters could ruin them.

The aquaculture industry in Wisconsin generates about $14 million a year.

Fish farm operators are disinfecting gear and taking other precautions to keep the virus away.

Bill West, who operates Blue Iris Fish Farm in Black Creek and is president of the Wisconsin Aquaculture Association, said that all it could take to infect his operation is one heron or eagle transplanting a dead fish to one of his ponds. Birds can also carry long strings of eggs.