Koi, Goldfish & Pond Health Koi, Goldfish & Pond Health More Advanced - Koi Herpes Virus Symtpoms Signs Cure Control Prevention CNGV Koi Virus Diseases

Koi, Goldfish & Pond Health In Twenty Steps

Koi, Goldfish & Pond Health In 20 Steps
Ulcer Treatments
Parasite Treatments & Cures
Koi Water Quality
Koi Quarantine & Health
Medications

Read These In Order:

The Twenty Steps:

Step One

Step Two

IMPORTANT Links

-More Links-

Medications - Koi & Goldfish Disease Remedies & Treatments - To your door overnight. Usage guides by Dr. Erik Johnson.

Koi Health & Disease Text Book - Fish Disease Treatments Simplified but leaving nothing out! 160 pages, satisfaction guaranteed.

Koivet Koi & Goldfish, Pond & Water Garden Forum or Message Board - Message with some of the best hobbyists and experts in the industry.

Chat about Koi & Goldfish Ponds and Water Features. Top of the hour, especially 9AM and 9PM EST

Koi & Goldfish Diseases Symptoms Chart - KoiCrisis.com

Other Links

KHV In More Detail

Keywords: Koi, Goldfish & Pond Health Koi, Goldfish & Pond Health More Advanced - Koi Herpes Virus Symtpoms Signs Cure Control Prevention CNGV Koi Virus Diseases

The Koi Herpes Virus was first formally described in Israel around 1998 after they received some Japanese fish that were infected with this disease. The virus infects the epidermis [skin] of the Koi and causes these superficial cells to die and slough away. The serious damage is done to the skin, fins, and gills. As the skin dies away, bacterial infections, and a loss of osmotic integrity contribute to the loss of fish.

When the virus infects a group of fish, one could expect to lose upwards of 90% of the group. There is no cure for the viral infection. However, it appears that controlling bacterial infections, and providing considerable heat (86o F) ameliorates the symptoms in fish that are not so seriously affected as to die anyway. With heating, some confirmed cases have had losses reduced to as low as 16%

The virus is primarily spread directly from fish to fish. Of course, it is possible to spread the virus by way of fomites, such as nets, or splashed water.

The most common route of infection is via new fish, which are added to the resident population without adequate or lengthy quarantine. In other cases, old fish are returned with infection after a simple breeding loan. This has happened several times. Therefore, all fish being added to, or returned to a resident collection should have some interval of quarantine.

The KHV virus remains latent in populations of fish that are held below its ideal operating temperature, which happens to be above 64-68o F. Fish that are held in cool water, under 68o F can harbor the virus for lengthy periods and the virus will not activate until the fish is warmed into the low seventies. There is no need for “roller coaster” of water temperature. If the fish is above 70o F the virus can infect the fish and cause clinical disease.

KHV is only infectious to Koi. It will not infect Goldfish.

KHV is difficult to diagnose because growing the virus in cell culture is difficult. Worse, the virus appears at varying times in varying quantities in the infected tissues. If one were to biopsy the gill looking for the virus on the wrong day, the virus would not show up there and the diagnosis would be lost. In general, biopsy of liver and kidney tissue is the most accurate place to find virus to make the diagnosis.

There are three tests for KHV. One is the PCR test. The PCR test uses a DNA marker to find a piece of the virus DNA. It is very specific. The second test is “In Situ Hybridization” which is more accurate because it uses Formalin fixed tissues and it detects virus inside the nucleus of the cell, which proves not just presence of the virus, but in fact, infection of the virus. Finally, there is an agglutination test for the blood of Koi. The blood is “faked out” by introduced KHV proteins, and if the fish ever HAD an infection with KHV, antibodies will agglutinate the introduced protein. This indicates that the fish had an infection but somehow survived it.

Testing is desired to determine several things that are not clearly known at the present time.

Do we know for sure it’s a Herpes virus? If KHV is not a herpes virus, we can expect many different behaviors from this virus, including a “no carrier” state in the survivors, which would be a very good thing.

If the virus is in fact a herpes virus, then we would make an assumption that even if heated, the virus is present in the fish after successful recovery and could be considered infectious at least at some time in the future.

We would also like to determine once and for all if the survivors are in fact immune to the virus, or if they carry the virus. These are two different results and two different studies.

Finally, if this is a viral infection which is NOT eliminated by heating, and which DOES have a “carrier state” after successful recovery, then we must develop a vaccine to stop the virus. The vaccine would have to be very effective, and it would have to be deployed with such prejudice that it would intercept 100% of field infections before the virus had a chance to mutate into something else which would elude the vaccine.

If we fail to generate the above answers, there will be several outcomes that will impact the industry and the hobbyist.

1) If we do not determine the carrier state of the virus / fish after infection or heating, hobbyists stand to continue to lose fish, and collections. This erosion of hobbyist success with the fish will result in declining expenditures on this hobby and all aspects of the industry will lose out.

2) If we do not control this virus, through a better understanding of what it actually is and how it works, the losses to breeders and farmers could devastate the production side of the industry.

3) If the virus lingers, and is eventually perceived as a threat to the domestic fisheries of the United States, the US government will deal with it with extreme prejudice in favor of the fisherman, not the hobbyist. Commerce in these fish might be impacted, and if found infected, millions of fish could die. Industry, which supports the production, support and retail-hobbyist side of the market, will certainly be crushed.

Finally, if a vaccine is developed, this could have positive economic impact not only to the US Koi market, but also to the world Koi market. Hobbyist confidence would climb along with discretionary spending on this hobby. US industry support could be rewarded with a profitable product that could be licensed in several ways for the benefit of both the industry that supported it, and the hobbyist who depends upon it.

Koivet.com
Koivet is a venerable, long lived koi and pond fish health site started by Dr Erik Johnson in 1994 as an off shoot of his first few websites at Mindspring.com. Now Koivet is full of information and movies and more.

Koi Beginner
Once you've leapfrogged through this tutorial you will have a solid, working concept of the Koi hobby and what it's all about. This is done just about exclusively with video and very little written material.

DrJohnson.com
More than koi health, this site spans all things animal, by a real veterinarian who shoots you straight.

Fishdoc.co.uk
By Frank Prince-Iles. A UK authority who put this site together some time ago and which is still relied upon as a major source of good Koi and pond fish information

Fish Medicines
Learn about fish medicines, what they do, and where to get them.

PondCrisis.com
If you have a koi, pond or fish problem, this site takes you through twenty easy questions and at the end you know what you need to fix in your pond to create restored Koi health.

KoiCrisis.com
Koi Crisis has a symptoms chart by system you can choose the symptom by fish part, and resolve a lot of Koi pond fish problems or at least, learn about them understand how to remedy them.

Buying Domestic Koi
What does "Domestic" koi mean? Why would you buy that kind? How do you pick good and healthy ones? Who sells them and where do you find the best ones?

Buying Imported Koi
A Japanese or Israeli imported Koi is a beautiful thing. Why would you buy one of those? How do you identify a "good one"? And what kinds are there? Who would you buy one from?

Koi Filtration - Bead
With a little bit of management every week or so, you can have gin clear water in your koi or fish pond. Bead filtration is more than ten years old and defines the state of the art in Koi and pond fish ponds.

Koi Filtration - Natural
Requiring no weekly management but one big yearly overhaul, natural filtration is the easiest there is. Relying on live plants and organic processes, water quality is usually superb. Described and common mistakes illustrated, visit this site!

Koi Food & Feeding
What should you feed your koi? How many times per day? Is Corn really that bad in a Koi diet? What are the most common feeding mistakes people make? What's the best food?

Koi and Pond Hard Goods
So many places these days, are pure ripoffs. Finding a reputable dealer of koi and pond hard goods isn't as easy as you would think but there's ways to tell. The product line should be to-the-point and not contain shams. Who's doing it right? Visit this site!

Finding Reputable Dealers
The fish are only as good as the dealer holding them. Quarantines, guarantees and fish quality all factor in. What to ask, what to see and how to handle your new fish.

Books on Koi Diseases
You will be introduced to Dr Johnson's Koi Health book but also to other books he's reviewed.

Help With Koi Problems
Koi Community rates a variety of forums and message boards on ease of use, friendliness and quality of help. Not all boards are created equal. Not mincing words here.

Domain for Sale