A Google Group on AHPND detection has been established to promote communication about the two AHPND detection methods (AP1 and AP2) that Dr Chu-Fang Lo and Dr Tim Flegel announced on 24 December 2013. The purpose of the group is to allow people using the methods to send in their comments and experiences about use of these two methods and other methods that might be developed.

The 25th Governing Council Meeting was convened from 25-27 March 2014 in the Mercure Hotel, Vientiane, Lao PDR. The meeting was attended by 17 member governments, the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), INFOFISH, the Mekong River Commission (MRC), the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC) and the USAID MARKET Project.

NACA wishes to welcome its 19th member government, the Republic of the Maldives, which became a member at the 25th Governing Council Meeting, held in Lao PDR 25-27 March 2014.

The NACA Governing Council elected Dr Cherdsak Virapat as the next Director General of NACA. Dr Virapat will commence duties in June 2014 and will serve a five-year term. Dr Virapat is presently Executive Director of the International Ocean Institute , where he has worked since May 2008. He previously served as an officer of the Royal Thai Government for 27 years, including as a fishery biologist for the Department of Fisheries.

This report, the 64th in the series, contains information about the aquatic animal health status of fourteen states in the Asia-Pacific region. The foreword discusses the 9th Symposium on Diseases in Asian Aquaculture.