- Hello, Jeff - Here again, I think a big problem is rearing
its deadly head: our polluted and nearly destroyed oceans. The seas will
not and cannot clean themselves under the horrendous onslaught from humankind.
We will witness more and more outbreaks of new pathogens killing off what's
left of the world's marine life. Once the marine life goes, so go the oceans,
and then goes the land...and and finally, so goes US.
-
- Patricia Doyle
-
- Koi Industry Facing Most Serious Challenge Yet
- From ProMED
- The Australian [edited]
- 12-20-3
-
- In the past 2 months, tens of thousands of the fish have
been killed by an incurable carp plague spreading across Japan.
-
- The epidemic has forced ornamental koi fanciers to cancel
their prize shows and farmers of edible carp to destroy their entire stock
just before the new year, usually a peak trading season. The crisis has
been caused by the koi herpes virus, commonly referred to as KHV, a disease
harmless to all other animals but invariably fatal to carp.
-
- KHV was 1st detected in Israel in 1997, and spread to
Europe, Indonesia, and the US [see comment below], but Japan had remained
unaffected until last [2003] October, when fish began dying in large numbers
in Kasumigaura and Kitaura, 2 large lakes in Ibaraki prefecture, northeast
of Tokyo. Since then the epidemic has spread to 22 of Japan's 47 prefectures,
and paralysed trade in the prized fish.
-
- Worst-hit have been breeders of the edible common carp,
half of whose 2.8-billion-yen (USD 35 million) production is based in the
Ibaraki region.
-
- An estimated 1200 tonnes of fish have died in the 2 lakes
alone, and losses are conservatively put at 200 million yen [USD 2.5 million].
-
- Government officials in Ibaraki want to destroy all the
carp in Lake Kasumigaura, and are locked in a bitter dispute with fish
breeders who are demanding compensation.
-
- The greatest fear is that the epidemic will make inroads
into Japan's stocks of nishikigoi (koi), the prized brocade carp bred for
their iridescent colouring and referred to by enthusiasts as "living
jewels" and "swimming flowers".
-
- The cheapest [brocade carp] cost about 180 dollars, and
fine specimens -- which have their own bodyguards when they go on display
at public events -- regularly sell for tens of thousand of dollars. The
most expensive brocade carp was valued at 30 million yen [USD 37.5 million].
-
- Japan's ornamental carp industry is worth 6 billion yen
[USD 75 million] a year, much of that coming from overseas collectors,
but the industry is running scared.
-
- One of the problems is that koi can be tested for the
virus only after they are dead -- an unattractive proposition for a fish
that costs as much as a small Tokyo apartment.
-
- Some breeders propose introducing common carp into ponds
of prized nishikigoi for a while and then killing the cheap newcomers to
see if they have been infected by their expensive cousins.
-
- "It's really scary, and I think that this is just
the tip of the iceberg," said Kishio Hatai, a professor at Nippon
Veterinary and Animal Science University in Musashino. "Japanese ornamental
carp are highly esteemed overseas, and even the rumour of KHV would tarnish
their brand image. The industry is scared and so, even if they do find
an ornamental carp with KHV, they will keep it secret."
-
- KHV is believed to be transmitted by direct contact with
an infected fish as well as through buckets, nets, parasites, plants, mud,
and water.
-
- Although it is related to the virus causing cold sores,
shingles and genital herpes, it presents no risk to humans. Even so, the
publicity surrounding the epidemic will certainly affect sales of carp,
which is often eaten at new year, sliced raw, cooked in miso soup, or in
carp stew.
-
- http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au
-
- ProMED-mail
-
- Indeed the first reporting of KHV in association with
high mortality among common and koi carp stocks originated in Israel in
1997, relating to cyprinid-fish farm sites there. However, ascribing its
"spread to Europe, Indonesia, and the US" to the said observations
should be approached with caution; early identification and reporting of
a disease agent does not necessarily indicate its true origin.
-
- During the recent 11th International Conference "Diseases
of Fish and Shellfish" held by the European Association of Fish Pathologists
in Malta in September 2003, L.C. Steedman, C.L. Joiner and their colleagues
from the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS)
in Weymouth, UK, presented their poster "Development of a PCR-based
assay for the detection of koi herpes virus DNA in formalin fixed, wax
embedded archive tissue". One of their results indicated that UK outbreaks
of the disease in 1996 could be associated with KHV; this was subsequently
confirmed by ISH (in situ hybridization ).
-
- Thus, so far, the origin of KHV remains the subject of
speculation. As remarked by Gilad et al. (J Gen Virol 84 (2003), 2661-2667),
"intensive fish culture, koi shows, and regional domestic and international
trading are the 3 main mechanisms that have contributed to the rapid global
spread of KHV. The movements of fish pathogens with ornamental fish and
the active international trade in live fish, including koi, have been recognized
as a key pathway for the spread of emerging fish diseases. Unfortunately,
as with most ornamental fish, unrestricted movements of koi continue, nearly
all without health inspections or implementation of quarantine programs
at the wholesale or individual hobbyist level".
-
- KHV is not included among the 16 fish diseases listed
in OIE's International Aquatic Animal Health Code, 2003. It would be of
utmost importance to carry out surveillance, to report, and to take measures
to prevent the introduction of this serious pathogen into the carp populations
of countries where this species is a major source of animal protein.
-
- Dr Avi Eldar is acknowledged for his help in obtaining
the CEFAS poster. Further commentary and background information on KHV
are to be found in posting 20030929.2450. - Mod.AS
-
-
- Patricia A. Doyle, PhD
- Please visit my "Emerging Diseases" message
board at:
- http://www.clickitnews.com/ubbthreads/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=emergi
ngdiseases
- Zhan le Devlesa tai sastimasa
- Go with God and in Good Health
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