One of the lessons ultimately learned from the first dramatic outbreaks of white spot syndrome virus (and other shrimp viral diseases) in the early 1990’s was that aquaculture management practices needed to be improved. Subsequent research revealed that critical factors included: broodstock sourcing, postlarva sourcing, screening techniques and strategies, diverse transmission pathways, critica...

Fish infected with Ich may have white specks on their skin as though they were sprinkled with salt (Fig. 1). Because of this appearance, Ich is sometimes called white spot disease. The skin of the fish may also look bumpy. Mature forms of the parasite are large (up to 1 mm or 1/32 inch across) and can be seen without magnification. Ich often causes the fish to have large amounts of mucus slough...

DNA extracts from white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) that had infected post-larvae and juveniles of cultured shrimp, wild shrimp and crabs, which had been collected from different hatcheries and farms located along both the east and west coasts of India, revealed considerable variation in several previously identified WSSV DNA repeat regions. These include the 54 bp repeat in ORF 94, the 69 bp re...

An experiment was conducted to explore the pathogenic effect of WSSV infection in reproduction of the Indian white shrimp, Fenneropenaeus indicus by investigating the time-course expression of female reproduction gene, namely vitellogenin (Vg) and thrombospondin (TSP), following WSSV challenge. Increased levels of expression for both Vg and TSP was observed in the infected group at 30 h post-in...

We studied the possible role that marine microalgae may play during the outbreaks of WSS (white spot syndrome). In order to elucidate the possibility of marine microalgae carrying WSSV (white spot syndrome virus), six marine microalgae (Isochrysis galbana, Skeletonema costatum, Chlorella sp., Heterosigma akashiwo, Scrippsiella trochoidea, Dunaliella salina) were co-cultured with adult Marsupena...

Problem statement: The present work was attempted to evaluate the probiotic activity of Bacillus spp. in shrimp health management. Approach: Penaeid culture ecosystem as a confined environment with huge inputs always encourages the proliferation of pathogenic bacteria like Vibrios. Results: From the present study and earlier reports it is understood that these pathogens alone or combine with vi...

A monoclonal antibody-based immunodot test was compared to a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for managing white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) on shrimp farms at Kundapur and Kumta situated in Udupi and Uttar Kannada Districts, respectively, of Karnataka on the west coast of India. Of 12 grow-out farms in Kundapur, 6 (F1 to F6) yielded shrimp samples that were negative for WSSV by both immuno...

Phagocytosis is crucial for triggering host defenses against invading pathogens in animals. However, the receptors on phagocyte surface required for phagocytosis of virus have not been extensively explored. This study demonstrated that white spot syndrome virus (WSSV), a major pathogen of shrimp, could be engulfed but not digested by Drosophila S2 cells, indicating that the virus was not recogn...

Taking an innovative approach, a vaccination study using five bacterial strains viz. Vibrio campbelli (B60), V. alginolyticus (B73), V. parahaemolyticus-like (B79), V. parahaemolyticus (R8) and V. harveyi (RG203) was conducted in Penaeus monodon against white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) infection, considered as one of the serious pathogens of shrimps. Oral challenge with shrimps infected with WS...