This document provides some background and the recommendations from the Expert Consultation on Rapid Diagnosis of Shrimp Viral Diseases that was held at the Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture (CIBA) in Chennai, India, on 12th-14th June 2002.

The recommendations are derived from discussions at the consultation and three expert working groups and were adopted during the final plenary session of the Expert Consultation. Together they represent a powerful set of recommendations in use of rapid diagnostic tools for better health management in shrimp aquaculture. They have been put together in this summary document for rapid dissemination to potential users, researchers and other interested parties, in India and elsewhere.

The Expert Consultation was generously supported by a grant from the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), and carried out in cooperation with NACA, CIBA, CSIRO and MPEDA.