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How we found a new transmissible cancer in bullhead catfish

Phys · 🇺🇸 public United States · · 886 words · By Julie Dragon
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What to know about How we found a new transmissible cancer in bullhead catfish

Researchers from the University of Vermont and other agencies used whole-genome sequencing to identify a transmissible cancer in brown bullhead catfish in Lake Memphremagog. The study found that tumors were clones of one another rather than originating from the host fish, marking the fourth known instance of transmissible cancer in the animal kingdom.

Propaganda risk 0%
Claims checked 6
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center100%
Right0%

2 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

How we found a new transmissible cancer in bullhead catfish Gaby Clark Scientific Editor Andrew Zinin Chief Editor For more than a decade, anglers on Lake Memphremagog—which straddles the Quebec–Vermont border—have been catching brown bullhead catfish marked…

Why it matters

Geological Survey (USGS) and the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department confirmed the lesions were malignant melanoma.

Common ground

Yet, until recently, there was no confirmed explanation for how the disease emerged.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Researchers from the University of Vermont and other agencies used whole-genome sequencing to identify a transmissible cancer in brown bullhead catfish in Lake Memphremagog. The study found that tumors were clones of one another rather than originating from the host fish, marking the fourth known instance of transmissible cancer in the animal kingdom.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://phys.org/news/2026-08-transmissible-cancer-bullhead-catfish.html

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0%
Propaganda Score
confidence: 100%
Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 6 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

verified Verified By Reference 2
check_circle Corroborated 2
verified Verified 1
info Single Source 1
verified
Claim 1: “In 1852, the essayist Henry David Thoreau wrote of seeing bullhead catfish with black velvety patches in a Massachusetts river.”
VERIFIED
A web search result directly confirms that in 1852, Henry David Thoreau wrote of seeing bullhead catfish with black velvety patches in a Massachusetts river. Wikipedia confirms Thoreau's identity as a naturalist and essayist from that region/era.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Concord () is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. In the 2020 census, the town population was 18,491. It contains the census-designated place of West Concord. The United States C…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concord,_Massachusetts
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Henry David Thoreau (born David Henry Thoreau; July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862) was an American naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher. A leading transcendentalist, he is best known for his book Wald…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_David_Thoreau
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Walden (; first published as Walden; or, Life in the Woods) is an 1854 book by American transcendentalist writer Henry David Thoreau. The text is a reflection upon the author's simple living in natura…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walden
+ 3 more evidence sources
verified
Claim 2: “In 2019, scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department confirmed the lesions were malignant melanoma”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
The provided evidence for this specific claim consists of irrelevant search results (calculators, unrelated wildlife refuges). While other claims confirm the cancer exists, the specific 2019 confirmation by USGS and Vermont Fish and Wildlife is not present in the provided evidence snippets.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Lost Trail National Wildlife Refuge is a 8,834-acre (3,575 ha) National Wildlife Refuge of the United States located in Montana. Established in 1999, it is one of the newest National Wildlife Refuges …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Trail_National_Wildlife_R…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is a U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior which oversees the management of fish, wildlife, and …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Fish_and_Wildlif…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Vermont ( ) is a landlocked state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York to the west, and the Canadian …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermont
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 3: “The evidence clearly indicated that the disease represented a previously unknown transmissible cancer that spreads from fish to fish, making it the fourth known transmissible cancer in the world. The others occur in dogs, Tasmanian devils and bivalves.”
CORROBORATED
Three independent web search results explicitly state that brown bullhead transmissible melanoma is the fourth known transmissible cancer in animals, alongside those in dogs, Tasmanian devils, and bivalves/shellfish.
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web search NEUTRAL — Transmissible cancers are extremely rare but not unheard of in the animal kingdom. A new study highlights the fourth known transmissible cancer, a form of melanoma, impacting a catfish population in L…
https://www.yahoo.com/news/science/articles/scientists-saw-s…
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web search NEUTRAL — The findings make brown bullhead melanoma the fourth known naturally occurring transmissible cancer in animals, after those found in dogs, Tasmanian devils and several species of shellfish.
https://qazinform.com/news/scientists-discover-first-contagi…
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web search NEUTRAL — The researchers conclude that this melanoma is only the fourth known type of naturally occurring transmissible cancer in animals.Before this discovery, such cancers had been documented only in dogs, T…
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/etimes/animals/scientist…
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Claim 4: “anglers on Lake Memphremagog—which straddles the Quebec–Vermont border—have been catching brown bullhead catfish marked with distinctive black lesions”
CORROBORATED
Multiple independent web search results confirm that anglers on Lake Memphremagog (which spans the Quebec-Vermont border) have caught brown bullhead catfish with distinctive black lesions.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Lake Memphremagog (mem-frə-MAY-gog; French: Lac Memphrémagog, pronounced [lak mɛmfʁemaɡɔɡ]) is a freshwater glacial lake located between Newport, Vermont, United States and Magog, Quebec, Canada. The…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Memphremagog
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Quebec (French: Québec) is Canada's largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, it is the only Francophone-majority province in the country, being home to Québécois French. It shares borders …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Vermont ( ) is a landlocked state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York to the west, and the Canadian …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermont
+ 3 more evidence sources
info
Claim 5: “Sixty years later, zoologist Raymond Osburn investigated Thoreau's report and other similar ones throughout New England. He even grew bullhead tumor cells in a lab and successfully transferred them into a healthy bullhead.”
SINGLE SOURCE
Only one web search result ('How we found a new transmissible cancer in bullhead catfish') describes Raymond Osburn investigating Thoreau's report and growing tumor cells in a lab. Other results for Osburn are general biographical entries and do not mention this specific research.
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web search NEUTRAL — Raymond Carroll Osburn was an American zoologist.For two years he served under the same title at Connecticut College for Women, and was a professor of zoology and entomology department chairman at Ohi…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Carroll_Osburn
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Sixty years later, zoologist Raymond Osburn investigated Thoreau's report and other similar ones throughout New England. He even grew bullhead tumor cells in a lab and successfully transferred them in…
https://phys.org/news/2026-08-transmissible-cancer-bullhead-…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Keep them vaulted, sell with a click, or burn the NFT to have the identical physical item shipped anywhere in the world, whenever you want.Axie. $0.60. 0%.
https://opensea.io/
verified
Claim 6: “we discovered evidence of something seen only in a handful of cases in the animal kingdom: transmissible cancer”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
The provided evidence for this claim consists of irrelevant YouTube links and general university lists. There is no specific evidence in the provided text confirming that researchers at the University of Vermont found this evidence.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — There are 12 colleges and universities in the U.S. state of Vermont that are listed under the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. These include one research university, four m…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colleges_and_universit…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a list of universities in the United States classified among research universities in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. This defines research institutions as tho…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_research_universities_…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, commonly referred to as the University of Vermont (UVM), is a public land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont, United States. Fou…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Vermont
+ 3 more evidence sources
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.