The Asia Regional Advisory Group on Aquatic Animal Health meets annually to discuss regional disease issues including emerging disease threats. This is the report of the seventh meeting, held 21-23 November 2012, Bangkok, Thailand. The report discusses emerging disease problems and regional response including to:

• Finfish diseases, with focus on catfish Pangasianodon hypophthalmus: Edwardsiella ictaluri, Aeromonas hydrophila, Streptococcus agalactiae, Tenacibaculum maritimum, Nocardia spp., viral nervous necrosis and iridoviruses, scale drop syndrome, Benedenia sp.
• Crustacean diseases: Whitespot syndrome virus, acute hepatopancreatic necrosis syndrome (to be listed in the Quarterly Aquatic Animal Disease Report), yellowhead virus, infectious myonecrosis virus, Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei.
• Amphibian diseases: Ranavirus.

Other issues discussed included:

• Progress of NACA's Aquatic Animal Health Programme.
• Ten years of the Asia Regional Advisory Group on Aquatic Animal Health.
• Outcomes of the OIE General Session and Aquatic Animal Health Standards Commission meetings, 2012.
• Disease reporting, including changes to the OIE list of notifiable diseases and establishment of a global online reporting system (WAHIS) by OIE.
• Review of the Quarterly Aquatic Animal Disease Reporting System.
• Progress in implementation of the the Regional Technical Guidelines on Health management for the Responsible Movement of Live Aquatic Animals.
• Identification and designation of regional aquatic animal health resources, including experts, centres and reference laboratories.
• Regional and international cooperation.