Three aquatic diseases, Epizootic Ulcerative Syndrome (EUS) of fresh and brackishwater fishes in 1980’s, White Spot Disease (WSD) of shrimp in the 1990’s and the infamous shrimp Acute Hepatopancreatic Necrosis Disease (AHPND) have contributed to fostering a strong, scientific network among aquatic animal health experts in the Asian region over the past 25 years.
These experts came together during the 9th Symposium on Diseases in Asian Aquaculture (DAA9) held from 24-28 November 2014 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The conference under the leadership of Dr Chadag Mohan, Senior Scientist Aquaculture, WorldFish, was organized by the Fish Heath Section (FHS) of the Asian Fisheries Society in collaboration with Department of Animal Health under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), Vietnam.
The goal of conference organizers was to minimize the impact of aquatic animal diseases and the conference agenda focused on the growing interest in emerging diseases (AHPND), diseases of fast developing aquaculture commodities like tilapia and catfish and fish immunology and vaccination.
Debnath Partho, a research scientist from WorldFish, presented some of the work being done in Bangladesh under the shrimp white spot disease session.
Phil Toye from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) also presented on how to promote better cooperation between livestock and aquatic animal health researchers.
Aquatic animal health is an emerging theme in the CGIAR Research Program on Livestock and Fish, with efforts now underway to forge a closer working relationship between livestock and fish animal science for development in the CRP.
Research is currently underway to identify aquatic animal health constraints and economic impacts of disease within tilapia value chains in Bangladesh and Egypt. Broader animal health and food safety assessments are also ongoing with other commodities in Bangladesh, including carps, catfish, tilapia, small fish, shrimp and prawn.
CGIAR Research Program on Livestock and Fish 