Good grief that sounds very bad that Koi Pox, never heard of it before here in Canada. I think these diseases are mostly seen in warmer areas of the world. I think myself that the warmer water temperatures are to blame for much of the diseases and parasites as I never heard of people in ice cold Canada getting these diseases. In the future somebody will develop a "pond Chiller" to chill the water those living in warmer climates, and simulate a natural winter period and thus keep much of these diseases at bay.
In all my 24 years of wintering my koi in Ice cold Running water outside all year, I have NEVER seen anything like that and feel very bad for those whose koi are infected with it. It really looks horrible and to watch the fish die slowly must be very hard...
I dont want to worry you and all Colleen but bellow is part of a report on KHV on its Geographical location reading through it you will see Canada as one of the countries infected wih it :-
Geographical distribution
Following the first reports of KHVD in Israel and Germany in 1998 and detection of KHV DNA in tissue
samples taken during a mass mortality of carp in the UK in 1996 (Bretzinger et al., 1999; Perelberg et
al., 2003), the geographical range of the disease has become extensive. The disease has been spread
to many countries worldwide, predominantly through the trade in koi carp, before the current
knowledge of the disease and means to detect it were available. It is now known to occur in, or has
been recorded in fish imported into, at least 28 different countries. In Europe KHV has been detected in
many countries across the continent (Bergmann et al., 2006; Haenen et al., 2004; Novotny et al.,
2010). Most recently KHVD outbreaks have been reported to the OIE from Romania, Slovenia, Spain
and Sweden. In Asia, China (Hong Kong), Chinese Taipei, Indonesia, Japan, Korea (Rep. of),
Malaysia, Singapore (in fish imported from Malaysia) and Thailand (Haenen et al., 2004; Ilouze et al.,
2010; Pikulkaew et al., 2009; Sano et al., 2004). Elsewhere, South Africa, Canada and the USA
(Garver et al., 2010; Haenen et al., 2004; Hedrick et al., 2000) have reported occurrence of KHVD. It is
likely that the virus is present in many more countries, but has not yet been identified or reported.
This is why its so vitally important we all QT our fish nowadays once its in your pond, your koi worst case senario are 80% dead (any survivors carry the virus and as such need Euthanizing
Here in the UK we have to report any outbreaks to the Government not so sure if this is the case in Canada (perhaps you can help by finding out what the protocol of an outbreak in Canada by asking your Government their policy ?
There is also a Goldfish Herpes Virus which has a kill rate of 40% amongst goldfish
But as Meyer pointed with KHV "that maybe more or less depending on which strain", that any of your Canadian goldfish are carrying at the time of infection
Its a sad fact that these viruses came about because of the intensive methods that are employed in breeding and growing the fish on for sale to the fish keeping public
Dave
