From Outdoor Life’s Newshound blog:
A shipment of some 8,000 rainbow trout used to stock several Western Maryland streams earlier this month contained some fish with whirling disease, a parasitic-borne syndrome often fatal to salmon and trout species, especially rainbows.
And in what can only be called a wicked twist of fate, on March 21 Maryland became the first state in the country to enact a ban on felt-soled waders worn by anglers in an effort to prevent the spread of aquatic hitchhikers and parasites—specifically parasites like the one causing whirling disease.
The diseased trout, which were stocked in the North Branch Delayed Harvest Area, Evitts Creek, Jennings Run and Sidling Hill Creek on May 11 by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, were provided by a private contractor that has since been found to have the proper paperwork and a three-year disease-free track record.
The parasite is harmless to humans but has been confirmed in 24 states.