The unique characteristics of the virus have led to its identification
by three different names: koi herpes virus (KHV) [3],
carp interstitial nephritis and gill necrosis virus (CNGV)
[10,11] and Cyprinid herpes virus-3 (CyHV-3) [9]. Recently,
Waltzek et al. [9] showed that the DNA sequences of the
major capsid protein (MCP, Accession no. #AY939864), intercapsomeric
triplex (ITP, Accession no. #AY939859), DNA
polymerase (DNAP, Accession no. #AY939862), DNA helicase
(HLC, Accession no. #AY939857) genes and an unidentified
open reading frame of CNGV (ORF, Accession no.
#AY208988) are similar to their counterpart genes of Cyprinid
herpes virus-1 (CyHV-1) and Cyprinid herpes virus-2
(CyHV-2). These results suggest that CNGV(KHV) and the
other CyHVs are members of a unique viral group, and
CNGV(KHV) was thus designated CyHV-3 [9]. Yet, the International
Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) has not
named this virus, but since CNGV(KHV) and CyHVs have
some common characteristics, such as morphology, a large
DNA genome and several similar genes at the DNA level, in
this report we will use the term CyHV-3 until an official name
is assigned to this virus by the ICTV.