What is particularly troublesome about this disease is that the symptoms are indicative of other diseases also.
"Behaviorally, affected fish often remain near the surface, swim lethargically and may
exhibit respiratory distress and uncoordinated swimming."
UF/IFAS Extension
White patches on gill tissue similar to Columnaris may also be a symptom.
Or in some cases, such as the one that I have had personal experience, septicemia was the only external symptoms.
But the really frustrating thing, is that when any symptoms manifest, the fish may already have the disease. The only absolute certain diagnosis is through a PCR test which involves sacrificing one of the suspected infected fish.
In any case, if the disease is present, it is already too late. There is no medical prevention and no options for treatment available to the average hobbyist.
Again you are indeed correct Meyer my friend, it sadly does mimic many of the symptoms you have mentioned.
However sadly for the average koi keeper/garden pond keeper[novice and advanced].....the PCR test will be an impossibility......[WHY?]
Well th truth of it all is this ...it's because the experts are more interested in the business end of the hobby and thus not to the hobbyists themselves.
As I have previously mentioned in the article I put together after one of our club members fell foul of the disease last year [they had bought no other koi in over 10 years]....... yet still it took their koi out after an unexpected spawning by their koi whilst they were away for the weekend ..
Weve been keeping 30 years now and this is the one virus we and all other** affiliated koi keepers dread [British Koi Keepers Society/ Accociated Koi Clubs of America ].....
A friend in South Africa also fell foul of CyHV3 [KHV] but this was from a newly imported koi that had gone though QT and everything they had even tried the South African version of heat ramping to bring CyHV3 [KHV] on if any of his new koi had it....... nothing happened then after the usual QT period and months after the new koi had been in wiith his other koi........all hell broke loose his koi started dropping like flies....... the result of a PCR test arranged by a dealer friend found that his koi were likewise infected [so sad as both had really nice collections of koi].
You can add to that both are very advanced in the hobby with many years of experiance between them one being a former chair of the BKKS health forum].
So to the novice and the more advanced pond keepers.....please learn these symptoms by heart and pray you never get visited by the virus .
[On a more personal note]..... our club the club members all used the dealership that our friend did which means that there is an outside possibility that all of us may well be infected ....
So as such we are all perhaps just one stressful incident away from complete disaster nobody knows.........
Dave
