Environment–KHV–carp–human linkage as a model for environmental diseases

To predict outbreaks of infectious disease and to prevent epidemics, it is essential not only to conduct pathological studies but also to understand the interactions between the environment, pathogen, host and humans that cause and spread infectious diseases. Outbreaks of mass mortality in carp caused by Cyprinid herpesvirus 3 (CyHV-3), formerly known as koi herpesvirus (KHV), disease have occurred worldwide since the late 1990s. We proposed an environment–KHV–carp–human linkage as a conceptual model for “environmental diseases” and specify research subjects that might be necessary to construct and shape this linkage.