Koi carp is the main freshwater ornamental fish which exhibits very high degree of value addition. In recent years, the industry has been threatened by a newly recognized virus, Koi Herpesvirus (KHV) as episodes of KHV outbreaks have occurred in areas including Asia, United States and Europe. The spread of KHV has caused massive mortality in cultured common carp as well as in the ornamental koi carp. It is reported that KHV is killing four out of every five infected fish. In Indonesia, KHV infection was reported to have affected over 5000 fish farmers and caused a loss of US$0.5 million within three months. The disease had also been reported in common or koi carp in 23 of Japan’s 47 prefectures by the end of 2003. Such rapid spread of KHV is presumably resulted from worldwide trade and the trans-boundary movement when the fish is under the stress of transportation, handling, and the change of temperature.

PCR technique has been commonly employed in the aquaculture industry for disease diagnosis and prevention. But building up a PCR lab is expensive and technician required. These make PCR detection limited in big farms. In order to provide pond-side PCR detection system for everyone in need, we introduced an innovative system - IQ Plus into the market. IQ Plus system using a new technology - insulated isothermal PCR (iiPCR), which is a compact and portable system and can detect KHV within 1 hour. The extraction procedure has been simplified to an easy way for everyone can easily perform the assay. IQ Plus system would be a useful tool for aquaculture pathogen detection and prevention anytime anywhere.