Status of shrimp diseases and advances in shrimp health management

Disease has had a major impact on shrimp aquaculture since shrimp farming became a significant commercial entity in the 1970s. Diseases due to viruses, rickettsial-like bacteria, true bacteria, protozoa, and fungi have emerged as major diseases of farmed shrimp. Many of the diseases caused by bacteria, fungi and protozoans are now managed using improved culture practices, routine sanitation, and the use of probiotics and chemotherapeutics. However, the virus diseases have been far more problematic to manage and they have been responsible for the most costly epizootics. Because of their socioeconomic significance to shrimp farming, seven of the nine crustacean diseases currently listed (and two of three proposed for listing) by the World Organisation for Animal Health (= Office International des Epizooties or the OIE) are virus diseases of shrimp. The development and export of Specific Pathogen Free (SPF) stocks of Penaeus vannamei (the Pacific white shrimp) from the USA to the major shrimp farming countries of Latin America and SE Asia is cited by FAO as being the main contributor to the industry’s recovery and subsequent expansion following the viral pandemics of the early 1990’s. The development of SPF stocks of P. vannamei is the topic of this review.