Sorry to hear about your plants. I hope it wasn't able to spread to any other part of your collection. Thanks for sharing your experience, I'm sure that it will help someone. I haven't experienced this fungus, but it does seem like a lot of ppl (from all over) have had bouts of this fungus this year... It's rather worrisome, actually...
To get rid of fusarium, do you cut it out,
and treat with cleary's? (I can't remember what action to take exactly, b/c it's been a little while since I've read the info on fusarium

) and like you, I'm familiar with the links Leafmite posted, but I don't recall reading about it starting in the middle of the plant, and the tidbit about the bottom leaves on your Vanda being different in color... I would've thought the same as you did.