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

New Aquatic Animal Disease Reporting for Asia and the Pacific from January 2021

The new OIE World Animal Health Information System (OIE-WAHIS) was initially launched in 2020, with an aim to develop a modern and dynamic platform to ease the burden on Members to collect and report information on  global animal health, as well as to make the information more accessible to the public. In this regard, OIE and NACA also planned the establishment of a Regional Core online reporting system for non-OIE listed aquatic animal diseases of regional importance in Asia and the Pacific. On behalf of NACA and OIE-RRAP, we encourage all members in the Asia-Pacific region to regularly submit monthly aquatic animal disease reports.

NACA Newsletter, Vol. XXXVI, July-September 2021

In this issue:

Counting down to Aquaculture Millennium +20; Free webinar - Fish Vaccination: Theory, Innovations and Application; Quarterly Aquatic Animal Disease Report, October-December 2020; Invasive disease linked to raw freshwater fish: Group B Streptococcus; International Crustacean Symposium 2021.

FAO Virtual Training Course on Surveillance and Monitoring of Antimicrobial Resistance in Aquaculture

FAO will conduct a regional training course on surveillance and monitoring of antimicrobial resistance in aquaculture from 26-30 July, in collaboration with the Institute of Hydrobiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and INFOFISH. The course will focus on methodologies relevant to monitoring and surveillance of AMR in major bacterial pathogens of diseased aquatic animals in Asia. The training will be held via video conference. To register for the training sessions, or to view the training programme, please visit the INFOFISH website.

Invasive disease linked to raw freshwater fish: Group B Streptococcus

In 2015, a bacterium called Streptococcus agalactiae, also referred to as Group B Streptococcus (GBS), caused a foodborne disease outbreak involving at least 146 people in Singapore, associated with the consumption of raw freshwater fish. The specific strain responsible for the outbreak was later identified as sequence type 283 (ST283). Invasive GBS ST283 disease is also found in other countries in and around Southeast Asia. FAO has published a fact sheet and a risk profile for GBS ST283, which are available for free download. These documents provide guidance on risk reduction, and practical recommendations for food safety competent authorities.

Quarterly Aquatic Animal Disease Report, October-December 2020

The 88th edition of the Quarterly Aquatic Animal Disease Report contains information from thirteen governments. The foreword provides an announcement on the new format for the Aquatic Animal Disease Report from January 2021 onwards.

Webinar: Pathogen Free: non-infectious Diseases and Disorders of Aquatic Animals

The Fish Health Section of the Asian Fisheries Society will convene a webinar via Zoom on 21 April, from 12:00 to 15:00 Bangkok time (GMT +7). Topics include: Stress-related non-infectious disorders in fish (Prof. George Iwama, Quest University, Canada); Nutritional diseases of aquatic animals (Prof. Orapint Jintasataporn, Kasetsart University, Thailand); Harmful algal blooms and fish kills (Prof. Lim Po Teen, University of Malaya); and Aquaculture ecotoxicology (Dr Roger Chong, CSIRO Australia). Participation is free, but registration is required.

NACA Newsletter, Vol. XXXVI, April-June 2021

In this issue:

Shrimp health: Online Consultation on Strategies for Hepatopancreatic Microsporidiosis caused by Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei (EHP); Webinar: Pathogen Free: Non-infectious Diseases and Disorders of Aquatic Animals; Quarterly Aquatic Animal Disease Report, July-September 2020; Register for the Global Conference on Aquaculture Millennium +20; Scholarship opportunity: Lancang-Mekong Rice-Fish Programme; International Artemia Aquaculture Consortium.

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

This report summarises the proceedings of the 19th meeting of the Advisory Group, held 26-27 November 2020 via video conference. The group's role includes reviewing disease trends and emerging threats in the region, identifying developments in global aquatic disease issues and standards, evaluating the Quarterly Aquatic Animal Disease Reporting Programme and providing guidance on regional strategies to improve aquatic animal health management.

Shrimp health: Videos from the EHP consultation now available on Youtube

Video recordings of technical presentations from the Online Consultation on Strategies for Hepatopancreatic Microsporidiosis caused by Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei (9-10 February 2021) are now available for viewing via Youtube. Presentations include information on the history of EHP, development of research tools, transmission route and recommendations for its control on farm.

Please visit NACA's Youtube channel to access the videos. Our Youtube channel is brand new, please consider subscribing for more technical aquaculture videos!

Quarterly Aquatic animal Disease Report, July-September 2020

The 87th edition of the Quarterly Aquatic Animal Disease Report contains information from fifteen governments. The foreword discusses the 19th Meeting of the Asia Regional Advisory Group on Aquatic Animal Health, held 26-27 November 2020.