WARNING: Viral plague among aquarium fish!

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Anneliese
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WARNING: Viral plague among aquarium fish!

Post by Anneliese » Thu Feb 11, 2010 3:55 pm

I'm not sure how many of you are interested in fish, but I thought I'd post this just as a warning.

There is an Iridovirus plague among dwarf gouramis, which can spread to bettas and seems to be able to spread to certain other species. This plague affects almost every gourami from Singapore and some other fish farms. I strongly suggest that you DO NOT get any gourami (no matter where it's from) until this plague is cleared up. Quarantine any gouramis you currently have, whether they're sick or not. The infection seems to be able to spread even indirectly, so using the same equipment you use in the sick fish's aquarium in another aquarium, it is possible that the virus may spread to unaffected fish.

Gouramis have been declining in health and quality for the past several years, and it was originally thought to be fish tuberculosis, but new research has found that the likely culprit is dwarf gourami iridovirus (DGIV). There is no known cure for this disease, and it is nearly always fatal.

"Iridovirus in Gouramis

An iridovirus was found in spleen and intestinal tissue of gouramis from the genus Trichogaster that were dying with signs of systemic disease. Mortality rates of affected fish have varied from low (0.5--10%) to moderate (50%) with death usually occurring 24--48 hours after the onset of signs. Clinical signs associated with the presence of the iridovirus have included darkening of body coloration and lethargy. Sick gouramis often stop eating and the abdomen may be distended. Internally, an enlarged spleen has been the most notable abnormality. The intestine may be reddened, and a clear amber fluid may be present in the body cavity. Laboratory examination for bacterial, fungal, or parasitic agents has frequently been negative. Through electron microscopy (EM), abundant iridoviral particles have been found in the spleens and intestines of dying fish."
(Source: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fa035)

Before this plague was widely known among gouramis in the fish trade, my dwarf gourami died, likely due to dwarf gourami iridovirus.

How can you help? Print information out pertaining to dwarf gourami iridovirus and bring it to pet shops in your area. Explain that this is a fatal disease affecting many dwarf gouramis, and that affected fish should be quarantined, and suggest that they stop selling dwarf gouramis until this plague is cleared up.

This is the info I recommend printing out, but feel free to do your own research. The more information, the better.

"Dwarf Gourami Iridovirus (DGIV)
The quality of the dwarf gouramis in the trade has steadily declined for years, with batches of fish showing significantly higher levels of mortality than 10 years ago. Historically, retailers and aquarists have blamed bacterial infections, such as fish tuberculosis (Mycobacterium marinum). In recent years, though, attention has focused on a virus known as dwarf gourami iridovirus or DGIV.

Dwarf gourami iridovirus is apparently specific to the dwarf gourami (Colisa lalia), including the various fancy varieties of the species, such as neon gouramis and sunset gouramis. Infected fish develop a variety of symptoms, including loss of color, decrease in activity and appetite, the appearance of sores and lesions on the body, abdominal swelling and finally death. This fish disease is highly contagious, completely untreatable and invariably fatal.

Dwarf gourami iridovirus is apparently very common. One recent study of fish exported from Singapore found that 22 percent of all dwarf gouramis carried the virus. Aquarists should never purchase dwarf gouramis from fish tanks containing fish exhibiting symptoms consistent with the dwarf gourami iridovirus, and all new fish should be quarantined for at least six weeks prior to being placed in the main fish aquarium.

For most aquarists, my best advice is to keep the hardier alternatives to dwarf gouramis. The thick-lipped gourami (Colisa labiosa) and the banded gourami (Colisa fasciatus) are both similar in size, temperament and coloration and make excellent alternatives."

(From: http://www.fishchannel.com/fish-health/ ... sease.aspx)

And/or, the more technical stuff...

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fa035
PDF: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/FA/FA03500.pdf

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Re: WARNING: Viral plague among aquarium fish!

Post by -Outcast- » Thu Feb 11, 2010 7:43 pm

hmm... this is quite sad =o

I once had a couple of fish... they got this very strange sickness where their skin was basically shedding off :? soon afterwards they died... they were very pretty fish...
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Re: WARNING: Viral plague among aquarium fish!

Post by jaguartail » Tue Mar 09, 2010 8:28 pm

Someone needs to give those fish some medicine

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Re: WARNING: Viral plague among aquarium fish!

Post by Nightskydapple » Sat Mar 13, 2010 4:25 pm

:O I never knew that before, >< but i'm not really interested in fish but still i have a small pond full of fishes and two of them died yesterday.
I was wondering why...
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Re: WARNING: Viral plague among aquarium fish!

Post by Gloria Crystal » Thu Apr 15, 2010 7:20 pm

Wow! Who care of the fishes? It need to be fixed! Poor fishes :cry:
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Re: WARNING: Viral plague among aquarium fish!

Post by Coolwolf1777 » Thu Apr 15, 2010 7:31 pm

Aww the poor Guaramis. I had many a gold fish but never a Guarami. Thank you for posting this though. Im certain that there are some out there that have Guaramis and need to know this information. There was a giant guarami at the aquarium... it followed me around in the tank... it was creepy. But, none the less good information.
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Re: WARNING: Viral plague among aquarium fish!

Post by Gloria Crystal » Fri Apr 16, 2010 10:34 am

Thank you for post that, that information is very helpfull and usefull!
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Re: WARNING: Viral plague among aquarium fish!

Post by Zethra » Fri Apr 16, 2010 10:40 am

Oh ouch, poor fish. That is not such a good desies for the fish to catch, I will be sure to take a look out for that when choosing the fish for my new tank.

Very fatel... sorry to hear about it. I hope they find a cure for it.
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Re: WARNING: Viral plague among aquarium fish!

Post by soloreclipse » Thu May 27, 2010 12:19 pm

Thank you for telling this. I won't go near any. You said it can spread to other fish? The fish we eat??? I'll stay away from fish for a while. Thanks for sharing this.
Why are you reading this? You just wasted 2 seconds of your life reading this!!!!

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