Fish Health Section

The Fish Health Section (FHS) of the Asian Fisheries Society (AFS) has organized the fifth webinar series on the path to the 11^th Symposium on Diseases in Asian Aquaculture (DAA11).  This webinar focused on significant viral diseases of finfishes, molluscs and crustaceans, and was held virtually on 1 June 2022 in Bangkok, Thailand.  It was attended by 229 participants from 21 countries and territories around the world. 

The growing global demand for seafood together with the limited capacity of the capture fisheries to meet such demand has seen the aquaculture industry continue to grow around the world. Hundreds of aquatic animal species are farmed in freshwater, brackish and marine systems where they are exposed to new environments and potentially new diseases. On-farm stressors may compromise immunity and their ability to combat infection, while diversification of farming practices facilitate rapid transmission of disease.  Worldwide, the number of infectious and transboundary diseases of aquacultured animals continue to increase. Viral pathogens, whether they have been established for decades or whether they are newly emerging as disease threats, are particularly challenging as there are no available treatment measures in most cases, and the development of effective viral vaccines for delivery in aquatic systems remains limited.   Here in the Asia-Pacific region, penaeid shrimp and several finfishes underwent viral epizootics associated with heavy losses in production. Baculoviruses are particularly harmful to shrimp and prawns, while Herpes-, irido-, reo-, and rhabdoviruses can cause outbreaks in finfishes.  Although a great number of viruses have been detected in farmed molluscs, the pathogenicity and epizootiology of most of these agents is not known.

In general, viral diseases are important limiting factors in the expansion of aquaculture. In this webinar, we are honored to have with us three renowned experts of viral diseases of crustaceans, finfishes and molluscs.  Video recordings and pdf copy of the presentations can be accessed by clicking the links below:

• ”An overview of viral diseases in Asian sea bass (Lates calcarifer) and the research highlights” by Dr. Senapin Saengchan of BIOTEC, Thailand. Senapin is a principal researcher at the Thai National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA). Since 2003, she has worked at Centex Shrimp, a cooperative center of excellence supported by BIOTEC and the Faculty of Science at Mahidol University. Her research focuses on the bacterial and viral diseases of tropical fish species, including pathogen identification and characterization, host-pathogen interaction, and molecular diagnostics. She is also an Associate Editor for the Journal of Fish Diseases.
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• “R Searching for pathogenic viruses in shellfish using next-generation sequencing” by Tomomasa Matsuyama of Japan Fisheries and Education Agency, Japan. Dr. Tomomasa Matsuyama is the head of the Immunology Group at Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency, Research Center for Fish Diseases.  His main expertise is on fish immunology and vaccine development, but  also worked on infectious diseases of shellfish. Currently, he is  interested in the immune response of shellfishes to viruses..
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• “Infection with Decapod iridescent virus 1 (DIV 1)” by Liang Qiu of the Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, P.R. China. Dr. Qiu is a diplomate of Shanghai Ocean University, and a diagnostic expert of Infection with Decapod iridescent virus 1 (DIV1) designated by the Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific (NACA). He is mainly engaged in the isolation and identification of emerging crustacean diseases, and the molecular epidemiology and diagnostic methods of DIV1.. PDF