In this issue:

Anti-microbials and alternatives. Successful demonstration of new model for rural development in Myanmar. Optimisation of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) production in ponds based on improved farm management practices in Rwanda. EUS infection in freshwater fishes of Andhra Pradesh. Development of pond-reared broodstock / spawners of green mud crab Scylla serrata. ASEAN Gender Network launched. A two-tube nested PCR detection method for AHPND bacteria. 9th Regional Grouper Hatchery Production Training Course.

In this issue:

12th Technical Advisory Committee held in Cha-am, Thailand. Audio recordings: WAS special session on regional cooperation for improved biosecurity. AFSPAN Final Technical Report now available! Pillay Aquaculture Foundation Awards for Scientists in Least Developed Countries. Gender seminar conducted and ASEAN Gender Network launched. A two-tube, nested PCR detection method for AHPND bacteria. 9th Regional Grouper Hatchery Production Training Course. Developing an environmental monitoring system to strengthen fisheries and aquaculture in the Lower Mekong Basin. Asia-Pacific Regional Workshop on the Status of Aquatic Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.

In early 2013, Vibrio parahaemolyticus was discovered as the causative agent of acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND). Subjecting 4 arbitrarily selected V. parahaemolyticus isolates obtained from a single farm in November 2012 to the previously reported immersion challenge protocol, we confirmed that 3 caused high mortality at different rates accompanied by characteristic lesions of AHPND while 1 caused high mortality without such lesions. Virulence may be determined by mobile genetic elements such as plasmids or bacteriophages.

A special session on Regional Cooperation for Improved Biosecurity was held at the World Aquaculture Adelaide 2014 conference, from 7-11 June. The session discussed i) regional cooperation in biosecurity, ii) dealing with emerging diseases, focussing on acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease, and iii) domestication programmes and their implications for genetic diversity, disease susceptibility and resistance.

The emergence and spread of new or previously unknown infectious diseases has had very significant impacts on public health, food security and international trade. Disease emergence is the consequence of environmental and/or sociological changes that disrupt the ecological relationship between pathogens and their natural hosts. Understanding the drivers of disease emergence will help us develop policies and practices that will reduce opportunities for disease emergence in aquaculture and improve prospects of containment.