Deadly fish virus spreads to West Sumatra

Deadly fish virus spreads to West Sumatra

Syofiardi Bachyul Jb, The Jakarta Post, Padang

Millions of carp and gurami have been found dead in a lake and
river in West Sumatra province, following a similar disaster
recently in Lake Toba, North Sumatra province.

With the help of excavators, farmers and government employees
worked together on Monday to remove hundreds of tons of dead fish
from karamba (a basket used for fish farming) in Lake Maninjau,
Agam regency and Batang Sumpur river in Pasaman regency.

M. Kamil, a veterinarian from Agam Animal Husbandry and
Fishery Office, explained on Monday that staffers at his office
had begun detect the spread of the koi herpes virus a few weeks
ago in 17 karamba in Lake Maninjau.

Staffers then ordered the fish farmers to separate the
infected fish from the healthy fish, but it was too late.

Millions of fish had already died, after the removal, the
amount of fish totaled 2.5 tons.

The virus quickly attacked other fish in another 4,000 karamba
in the lake, killing a large number of fish in each karamba, said
Kamil.

The fish were certain to have been infected with Koi herpes
virus, which is seen from the white or black coloring of the
gills and the shedding of scales.

"Samples of the fish have been dispatched to a fish laboratory
in Sukabumi, West Java, and it is positive that the fish were
infected with Koi herpes," said Kamil.

Kamil explained that there was no cure for fish infected with
Koi herpes, so that he suggested that the farmers harvest the
healthy fish and at the same time, remove the infected fish and
bury them. The karamba should be left empty for at least four
months to ensure the habitat is free from the virus, thus
ensuring it will not come back.

Kamil said that the virus was believed to come from Solok
regency, also in West Sumatra province, following an earlier
report that the fish in the area were infected by Koi herpes a
few months ago.

In Pasaman regency some 850 tons of carp and gurami were
removed from karamba in Batang Sumpur river.

Pasaman deputy regent Benny Utama said on Monday that the
government was looking into ways to help the fish farmers.

Fish farming is a prominent industry in Pasaman regency. Fish
farmers in the regency produced 1,884 carp and gurami fry last
year, which were sold to several other provinces on Sumatra
island. The farmers also sold dozens of tons of gurami and carp
to traders in the regency and outside regencies. People in
Pasaman only consume some 13,000 tons of gurami and carp per
year.

Some 5,000 households here are involved in the karamba
business.

Meanwhile, a fishery expert from Bung Hatta University in
Padang, the capital of West Sumatra province, explained that the
virus spread quickly in temperatures below 25 Celsius.

"The water temperature has dropped in West Sumatra province
after rain fell in the area recently, enabling the virus to
spread fast," said Hafrizal Syandri.

Syandri, on the other hand, believed that the virus came from
Java Island through fish fry.

The disaster in West Sumatra came after the death of millions
of carp in Lake Toba last week. The Simalungun regental
government has banned the consumption of fish from the lake and
also instructed the farmers to take the necessary measures to
prevent the virus from spreading.