Belly Up

Thousands of tons of Japanese koi carp and goldfish have been plagued with a strange disease. The island of Java is under quarantine.

July 23, 2002

TJITJIH is at a loss. One recent day in June, his only fishpond looked as if it had been struck by a bomb. All of his goldfish, about 400 kilograms in total weight, were found floating belly up, lifeless. What gave Tjitjih the most grief is that the deceased fish did not just leave him with turbid water in his pond, but also a debt of Rp5 million, the capital used to purchase the fish in the first place. He was due to pay this off in installments

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