Since October, thousands of farm-bred carp in Japan have been affected by the highly-contagious Koi Herpes Virus (KHV).
So far over 1000 tons of fish have died in the country's first-ever outbreak of the disease. It is thought that it could cost the industry millions of dollars.
OATA's chief executive Keith Davenport urges UK Koi keepers not to panic.
"Let us find out what has happened, where it has happened and the circumstances before we jump to conclusions or get into scare-mongering."
The initial outbreak was confined to the Ibaraki prefecture in eastern Japan, which produces 50% of farmed carp in Japan. Nine more of the 47 prefectures in Japan have seen fish kills, says the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry.
Worringly, Ibaraki has shipped carp to 21 prefectures, seven of which have seen outbreaks. Two of the nine prefectures, Okayama and Kochi, farmed the fish locallly, indicating that there may be another infection route.
Early reports show that 1125 tons of fish have died in Ibaraki. A further 1.1 tons have died in the Aomori prefecture, and 1.6 tons were listed for Saitama. Figures are as yet not available for the rest of the kills.
However, farmers are saying that they are seeing deaths on a daily basis. KHV targets the gills, and death is fast. Infected fish stop eating and start swimming eratically. On average, 90% of all infected fish die.
The virus was first identified in 1997 in Israel, and outbreaks have since been recorded in Britain, Germany, Taiwan, Indonesia, the Netherlands and the USA.
KHV is thought to spread via direct contact or from mud, nets, buckets, parasites, plants or water. It does not multiply at temperatures above 30C/86F. It is not, however, harmful to humans.
OATA has a document on Koi Herpes Virus that it can send to fishkeepers and those concerned about the virus and effects.
See: The Associated Press, Yomiuri Shimbun, The Japan Times and CBS News.