The causative virus of the disease
was named goldfish haematopoietic necrosis virus
(GFHNV) in the first report (Jung & Miyazaki 1995),
and as this virus is the second herpesvirus isolated
from a cyprinid species, it was formally designated as
the species Cyprinid herpesvirus 2 (CyHV-2) following
the rules for nomenclature of the International
Committee on the Taxonomy of Viruses.