April 9, 2007

Hawaiian shrimp farm tests negative for shrimp virus

A state quarantine order issued last week on a Hawaiian shrimp farm in Kahuku s expected to be  lifted shortly after additional testing showed no presence of the Taura syndrome virus (TSV).

The test on Ming Dynasty Fish and Shrimp, conducted by the Aquaculture Pathology Laboratory at the University of Arizona-Tucson, were done on shrimp raised in a second pond and the hatchery.

Agriculture Department officials said the company would not be allowed to move shrimp on or off the property without a permit would remain in effect until additional testing have been completed.

Tests conducted in mid-March at the farm were positive for TSV, but appeared confined to one pond. Shrimp in that pond were later harvested.

The farm is the only one in the Kahuku area that participates in the Aquaculture Development Programme's shrimp surveillance and certification programme, which certifies farms as "specific pathogen free."

Although TSV is deadly to certain types of shrimp, it is not harmful to humans. An outbreak in a farm in same area wiped out more than 95 percent of its shrimp in 1994 and has not appeared until the recent incident.

The disease was first identified in 1992 and outbreaks have occurred in other South American countries, Asia and the US.