If you use any of this information, I request you give credit for the origin of the Pictures and the article. 

Thank you...Walter Oldenburg

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The first group will show the damage done by KHV. The most consistent symptom was the gill damage. Every koi that died demonstrated some form of damage.

Symptoms varied among the Koi. Not all koi displayed the same external symptoms. Judge for yourself. Some shed excess mucus, some experienced scale loss with no ulcers, some had ulcers. On others they may have had sunken eyes, deformed head, veining in the body or fins. Some experienced loss of slime coat, scale loss and fin rot.

PCR Testing

DR. Helen Roberts suspected we might have contracted KHV due to the high moralities we we’re experiencing. She suggested we needed to get some samples and send them in for testing. This first test is a little gross; It’s called a Pcr test (polymerase chain reaction). This test is only successful if the koi happens to be actively shedding the virus or has just died from it. This technique amplifies the DNA of the virus making it easier isolate and detect. In our situation we brought a few dead koi to Dr. Roberts. She then removed the spleen, the kidney, took a sample of the gills and sent them to the University of Georgia. The test returned Positive.

Serology Test

This next test was to determine the condition of our remaining koi. The Serology is also termed a “Virus Neutralization Test.”  The serology looks for antibody production. It takes 2 to 3 weeks for the antibodies to develop after exposure to an infected koi. Testing before that time can result in a negative test. 

The serology is where blood is drawn and sent to a lab. This test can pick up the antibodies usually up to 1 year after contact. Our test was conducted by our favorite Vet DR. Helen Roberts who has been a great asset to us. The testing Lab was the University of Georgia. The results came back negative. We had her out to visit us recently, to test some our new koi before we introduce them to our herd. Fortunately the test came back negative. We thought it better to play it safe this time around.

Euthanizing

Euthanizing the remaining koi. Probably the hardest thing I had to do. Ever.... We had been enduring the effect of KHV from February 2006, to May of 2006. I can’t tell you how tiring this experience was to watch the koi die one at a time. We thought we’ve gone this far, let’s experiment with heating the koi to 90 degrees to see if it really makes the virus go away. It worked... for a month and 2 more koi died... so