July 24, 2014

The announcement on June 25 marks a breakthrough in the fight against EMS, which has caused mass shrimp deaths afflicting Thailand and the ASEAN region, due to its 100% mortality rate.

The new diagnostic method, however, can distinguish the virulent strain from the avirulent one with 100% accuracy, so it is expected to greatly contribute to efficient quarantining of EMS and improve production.

To fight EMS, it is necessary to diagnose it early and shut down or disinfect fish ponds. Past diagnostic methods yielded positives even in the case of avirulent Vibrio parahaemolyticus, fish ponds were shut down even when the disease had not actually broken out.

The breakthrough was part of the project "JST/JICA Project: Development of Aquaculture Technology for Food Security and Food Safety in the Next Generation."

The project is being carried out by Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences and National Research Institute of Aquaculture in Japan, and in Thailand, the Department of Fisheries, Kasetsart University, Chulalongkorn University and Walailak University.