Shrimp health research in the Asia-Pacific: present status and future directives

Abstract

Shrimp harvests from intensive aquaculture have recently declined in areas which have been productive for many years. Because the most convenient, although not necessarily factual, explanation for these crop failures has been the occurrence of infectious diseases, there is a need to consider shrimp health from a holistic point of view. The classical method used for the study of shrimp disease dealt mainly with identification of the causative organism and the search for methods of prevention and control through chemotherapy. The adverse affects resulting from the use of chemicals in aquaculture have led to a clamor for alternative approaches to disease management. For effective shrimp health maintenance and surveillance, the following components need consideration: development of rapid and sensitive methods for pathogen detection; establishment of shrimp tissue cultures for virology; immunological studies, toxicological studies and drug efficacy evaluation. The epidemiological approach to disease management should augment the classic approach to shrimp pathology, and this calls for multidisciplinary cooperation.