May 26, 2011

Vietnam to investigate shrimp disease

Vietnam may have to invite foreign experts to help the locals find out the diseases that have been killing shrimp and oyster in the Mekong Delta region.

Cao Duc Phat, minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, said local researchers need to boost their research work to clarify the causes and they can invite foreign experts to help them.

The Vietnamese researchers can send disease samples to foreign laboratories for faster disease determination, helping timely treatment of infested breeding areas, Minister Phat said.

The minister asked the Animal Health Department and the Fisheries Directorate to cooperate closely with localities in the region to solve the problem affecting thousand aquatic farmers in the Mekong Delta region.

The Mekong Delta reported that unspecific diseases were breaking out in 25,000 hectares of shrimp farms and other 2,000 hectares of oyster farms, resulting in a massive death of the two aquatic species.