EHP remains as a Big Nuisance for Asian shrimp farms in 2021
The Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei (EHP) is an emerging hepatopancreatic microsporidian parasite that affects cultured shrimp black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) and Pacific white shrimp (P. vannamei) in China, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, India and Malaysia, as well as other Southeast Asia countries. EHP can be transmitted horizontally among prawns cohabiting in rearing ponds. Heavily infected prawns may display white faeces that are packed with microsporidian spores.
Unlike the more fatal bacterial infections such as White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV) and EMS, EHP causes great reduction of the rate of shrimp growth, and in more advanced stages, infected shrimp have soft shells and exhibit lethargy, reduced feeding and empty midguts. This means if the disease left undetected, farmers can waste considerable sums on feeding shrimp that is no longer growing at an economical rate.
Despite EHP does not appear to cause mortality, scientists claimed that EHP may be a risk factor for other shrimp diseases such as acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND).The disease also makes shrimp more susceptible to white faeces disease and vibriosis. Thus, EHP is an emerging problem that is under urgent need of control.
“Roughly 80% of all farms in India have now been affected by EHP at some point this year”, said by Ravikumar Bangarusamy, a technical general manager for India’s Growel Feeds. Speakers at The Aquaculture Roundtable Series 2021 from Vietnam and Thailand also agreed that EHP has become the big nuisance disease issue faced by the industry over the last few years.
As there are a lack of effective therapeutics, prevention of the infection with rapid and reliable pathogen detection assay is important. Speedy Assay specializes in manufacturing and distribution of ShrimpCheck EHP PCR kit, Real-time PCR kit, PCR kit with Nucleic Acid Extraction kit. Our detection kits with high quality standards are able to detect the serious threat source of cultivated penaeid shrimp in Asia.
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References:
1. Undercurrent News, EHP continues to bane of Asian shrimp farms in 2021. Accessed on 30th September 2021.
2. Global Seafood Alliance, EHP a risk factor for other shrimp diseases. Accessed on 30th September 2021.
3. Global Seafood Alliance, Quality, survival of L.vannamei offspring from ablated, non-ablated females. Accessed on 30th September 2021.
4. The Fish Site, Enterocytozoon Hepatopenaei. Accessed on 1st Oct 2021