Highlights of the course include: Updates on major shrimp diseases including EHP, white faeces, and AHPND; shrimp farming systems and management; Shrimp molecular immunity; molecular approaches for disease detection including PCR and CRISPR; hands-on laboratory sessions, including pathogenic viral detection using PCR, histological preparations, EHP assays and bioinformatic analysis, and an optional field trip to local shrimp farms in Surat Thani.

The course will be held at Centex Shrimp, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University in Bangkok, Thailand. This is a paid training course. Reservations will close on 31 October. For more information, please download the flyer.

The Yellow Seas Fisheries Research Institute (YSFRI) will convene a free online Training Course on Mariculture Technologies in the Asia-Pacific Region from 19 to 23 September (please note the change of date). The course is organised by YSFRI, NACA, the Qindao Marine International Cooperation Center and the Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission. The training course will cover: Theory and technology for producing high-quality seed; New mariculture modes and technology; Nutrient regulation and feeding technology; Disease prevention and control technologies; Product processing and utilisation technologies. Applications close 5 September.

With the implementation of the new aquatic animal disease reporting in the Asia Pacific region from January 2021, and in lieu of the published QAAD Reports (last issue published was 4^th quarter of 2020), NACA is publishing reported aquatic animal diseases submitted by countries in the Asia-Pacific region.  This report covers the fourth quarter of 2021 and the original and updated reports can be accessed from the QAAD page.

In this issue:

• NACA to host the International Artemia Aquaculture Consortium
• Wenzhou virus 8 (WZV8) diagnosis by unique inclusions in shrimp hepatopancreatic E-cells and a molecular detection method
• Report on the Webinar on Management of Artemia Resources of the Great Salt Lake, 5 May 2022
• Twentieth Meeting of the Asia Regional Advisory Group on Aquatic Animal Health

To assist shrimp pathologists worldwide we are providing here photomicrographs of unique basophilic inclusions that are produced by Wenzhou shrimp virus 8 (WZV8),  discovered in 2015 by Li et. al. We designed PCR primers and in situ hybridization probes for detection of WZV8. Subsequent ISH assays with shrimp RT-PCR positive for WZV8 samples indicate unique inclusions described herein as linked to WZV8 in H&E stained tissues. Going back over our previous histological reports and archived slides, we have found the unique WZV8 inclusions in E-cells of normal shrimp samples from several shrimp farming countries in Austral-Asia since at least 2008, and more recently in samples of P. vannamei from the Americas. We urge shrimp pathologists to review their records and specimens for the presence of WZV8 E-cell inclusions described herein to provide data on the global prevalence and impact of WZV8-like infections.