Health and welfare

The Aquatic Animal Health Programme assists members to reduce the risks of aquatic animal disease impacting the livelihoods of farmers, national economies, trade, environment and human health by:

  • Improving regional cooperation in aquatic animal health and welfare.
  • Developing and implementing national strategies on aquatic animal health.
  • Improving surveillance, reporting and response to disease emergencies.
  • Promoting harmonisation of diagnostic procedures and risk assessment.
  • Widespread promotion of better aquatic animal health management practices at the farm level.

Key activities

Key activities of the programme include:

  • Convening the annual meeting of the Asia Regional Advisory Group on Aquatic Animal Health, coordinating the Quarterly Aquatic Animal Disease Report and bringing regional issues to the attention of global standard setting bodies such as the Office International des Epizooties.
  • Establishment and expansion of a three-tier shared resource in aquatic animal health.
  • Development of farm-level health management tools for key aquaculture commodities.
  • Supporting regional disease surveillance and reporting.
  • Strengthening aquatic animal health and biosecurity in the region.
  • Facilitating harmonisation in disease diagnostic techniques.
  • Developing resource material in support of diagnosis and surveillance.

Contacts

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Related

Subject tags

A collection of subject tags relating to technical matters.

In this collection

Disease advisory: Decapod Iridescent Virus 1 (DIV1): An emerging threat to the shrimp industry

This disease advisory describes the history, known host range, clinical signs and PCR detection methods for decapod iridescent virus 1 (DIV1). Preventative strategies are suggested. Currently known susceptible species of DIV1 include Penaeus vannamei, Macrobrachium rosenbergii, Exopalaemon carinicauda, M. nipponense, Procambarus clarkii, and Cherax quadricarinatus. Clinical signs of infected P. vannamei are not typical, including slightly reddish body, hepatopancreatic atrophy with colour fading, and empty stomach and guts.

NACA Newsletter, Vol. XXXV No. 2, April-June 2020

In this issue:

Urgent warning: Positive PCR detection results for infectious myonecrosis virus (IMNV) and decapod iridescent virus 1 (DIV1) in captured Penaeus monodon from the Indian Ocean; COVID-19 news; Urgent announcement on usefulness of the lymphoid organ (LO) as an additional prime target for diagnosis of decapod iridescent virus 1 (DIV1) in diseased P. vannamei; Fresh or frozen seafood?; Report of the Eighteenth Meeting of the Asia Regional Advisory Group on Aquatic Animal Health; COVID-19 fallout could push half a billion people into poverty in developing countries; Simple techniques double crablet production.

Report of the Eighteenth Meeting of the Asia Regional Advisory Group on Aquatic Animal Health

This report was prepared by the 18th Asia Regional Advisory Group on Aquatic Animal Health (AG) that met at Bangkok, Thailand on 18-19 November 2019. The group discussed OIE standards and global issues, review of regional disease status, reports on the aquatic animal health programmes of partner agencies, and disease reporting.

Urgent warning: Positive PCR detection results for infectious myonecrosis virus (IMNV) and decapod iridescent virus 1 (DIV1) in captured Penaeus monodon from the Indian Ocean

From a survey of wild, adult Penaeus monodon of potential broodstock size from the Indian Ocean in April 2018, we obtained positive nested RT-PCR test results for infectious myonecrosis virus (IMNV) and positive nested PCR test results for DIV1. As a confirmatory step, a second round of nested PCR tests was carried out using new, in-house primers designed from regions of the respective viral genomes distant from the target regions used in the first round of tests. These results suggested the possibility that the grossly normal, PCR-positive captured P. monodon specimens might be infected with the respective viruses at the carrier level. If so, they might serve as potential vehicles for introduction of IMNV and/or DIV1 into crustacean culture systems, especially if they were used in hatcheries for production of PL for distribution to shrimp farmers without proper precautions in place.

Urgent announcement on usefulness of the lymphoid organ (LO) as an additional prime target for diagnosis of decapod iridescent virus 1 (DIV1) in diseased P. vannamei

We carried out laboratory injection challenges that employed extracts prepared from shrimp naturally-infected with decapod iridovirus 1 (DIV1). We found that diseased shrimp from the injection trials showed pathognomonic lesions for DIV1 in the hematopoietic tissue that matched those reported for DIV1 in P. vannamei from China (Qiu et al. 2017. Scientific Reports. 7). In addition, we also found distinctive lesions in the lymphoid organ that could be used as an additional indicator in confirming diagnosis of DIV1 disease. Also, the lesions from shrimp challenged with the 10x dilution were more severe than those from 100x dilution, and for some shrimp in the 100x dilution, the lesions were very clear in the LO but absent in the HPT. Altogether, the results suggested that histology of the HPT and LO could be used together to help in the diagnosis of DIV1 in conjunction with RT-PCR, amplicon sequencing and in situ hybridization (ISH) analysis. This is particularly important in confirming the presence of virulent isolates of DIV1 in new geographical locations.

Quarterly Aquatic Animal Disease Report, July-September 2019

The 83rd edition of the Quarterly Aquatic Animal Disease report contains information from twelve governments. The foreword discusses the upcoming 11th Symposium on Diseases in Asian Aquaculture (DAA 11), which will be held from 29 September to 2 October 2020, at the Borneo Convention Center, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia.

NACA Newsletter, Vol. XXXV No. 1, January-March 2020

In this issue:

Join us for the aquaculture event of the decade! 18th Meeting of the Asia Regional Advisory Group on Aquatic Animal Health; New Director General of the Department of Fisheries, Thailand; Thailand holds National Sea Bass Fair; Tuskfish CMS 2.0 is available; Regional consultations on strengthening aquaculture governance and demographic changes in fishing communities; INFOFISH World Shrimp Conference and Exposition.

11th Symposium on Diseases in Asian Aquaculture, Kuching, Malaysia

The 11th Symposium on Diseases in Asian Aquaculture (DAA11) marks 30 years since the Fish Health Section - Asean Fisheries Society (FHS-AFS) establishment and it will be celebrated in Malaysia. Local hosts, the Department of Fisheries Malaysia (DOF) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry together with the Ministry of Modernisation of Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development Sarawak (MANRED) will be organising the event in cooperation with the FHS-AFS.

ASEAN Regional Technical Consultation on Aquatic Emergency Preparedness and Response Systems for Effective Management of Transboundary Disease Outbreaks in Southeast Asia

The ASEAN Regional Technical Consultation on Aquatic Emergency Preparedness and Response Systems for Effective Management of Transboundary Disease Outbreaks in Southeast Asia was held from 20-22 August 2018 in Bangkok, Thailand. The consultation discussed the status of and/or need for aquatic emergency preparedness and response systems for effective management of transboundary disease outbreaks in Southeast Asia. Issues were addressed through country reports, technical presentations and a workshop.

Fact sheet on Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei, a microsporidian parasite of shrimp

EHP or Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei is a fungal microsporidian parasite that infects the hepatopancreas (hp) of tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) and whiteleg shrimp (P. vannamei) in Thailand and results in slow growth and, in chronic infections, mortalities. EHP is also known from Brunei, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Venezuela and Vietnam. This fact sheet provides information on the EHP life cycle, signs of infection, diagnosis and management in both hatcheries and growout, as well technical contacts for further information.