A megalocytivirus involved in dark body disease of climbing perch (Anabas testudineus) cultured in Vietnam

Dark body disease has become a serious problem for climbing perch, Anabas testudineus, cultured in freshwater intensive farming systems in Vietnam. Outbreaks of the disease occur when the fish are about 20-65 days old with 40 - 100% mortality. The main clinical signs of the disease are dark body, haemorrhagic or yellowish liver, and little or no food in the intestines.