Ohia trees are dying rapidly, Why?

[rainyjim]

"So it does appear that it is indeed a fungus - even though it only had affected sweet potatoes , so as yet an undermined variation of the original sweet potatoe virus."

Its not a virus its a fungus. These are not interchangeable.

"And then their is the vectoring factor, or ideas on how the disease started ."

The vector is as of yet unknown.

"Honestly I have not read all of the posts on this topic , but it appears that the trees
start dying from the top down - is this correct?"

The researchers at CTAHR / USDA have aready confirmed this.

"If so then the vectoring leads to the virus being airborn in some fashion - right or wrong?"

Incorrect, there is no reason to think that this fungus is 'airborne'.