Current status of acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND) and result of isolating AHPND-causing strains of farmed shrimp in Mekong Delta Region of Vietnam

Abstract

Early mortality syndrome/acute hepatopancreatic necrosis (EMS/AHPND) was first detected in China in 2009. The disease spread rapidly to neighboring countries and emerged in almost major shrimp-producing regions in the world, including Vietnam. The disease has caused serious damage to the global shrimp industry and so far, there is no effective cure. In order to understand the current status of AHPND, and then to introduce effective prevention and detection measures, we collected data and shrimp samples in some provinces in the Mekong Delta to analyze and isolate the pathogenic strains. The results of our study conducted from 2014 - 2018 in four provinces (Ben Tre, Long An, Bac Lieu, Kien Giang) showed that AHPND damaged from 2.0 to 57.2% of the total shrimp farming area. In addition, we isolated 10 AHPND-positive strains via culturing and PCR. The results of representative sequencing of three strains LA1, LA5, and LA8 showed that they were 100% similarity with the previously published strain XN89. These isolated strains are used as a collection for further studies on the origin and mechanism of the disease by whole genome sequencing.