Aquatic Animal Disease Surveillance and Important Disease Affecting Finfish and Shellfish in India

Diseases continue to be a major constraint to sustainable growth of aquaculture, resulting in huge economic losses globally. Some of the diseases like white spot disease, acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease and hepatopancreatic microsporidiosis have resulted in enormous economic losses in shrimp culture, whereas finfish diseases like epizootic ulcerative syndrome, tilapia lake virus disease and lice infestation have been responsible for significant losses in freshwater aquaculture. These losses underscore the need of aquatic animal disease surveillance for early detection and timely intervention. The disease surveillance can be broadly categorized into passive or farmer-based surveillance and active surveillance. Over the last few years, to improve the efficiency of disease surveillance, some of the approaches like syndromic surveillance, sentinel surveillance, indirect surveillance, risk-based surveillance etc. have been developed. Recognizing the importance of disease surveillance, the Government of India has been implementing the National Surveillance Programme for Aquatic Animal Diseases (NSPAAD) since 2013. The programme, currently funded under Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY), has been strengthened by the involvement of state fisheries departments and Marine Products Export Development Authority. Some of the important achievements of the NSPAAD include developing a strong network of aquatic animal health laboratories and diagnostic capability for the detection of important aquatic animal pathogens, strengthening of passive disease surveillance, providing scientific advice to the farmers, detection of several new pathogens for the first time and establishing a transparent system for reporting aquatic animal diseases to international organizations. Furthermore, to strengthen the farmer-based reporting, the ReportFishDisease app has been developed which is available in Hindi, English and 11 regional languages. Using the app, the farmers can report disease cases and get scientific advice for quickly addressing the disease problem. The strengthening of the ongoing surveillance programme has been facilitating the early detection of diseases, accurate diagnosis and timely scientific advice to farmers and meeting country’s disease reporting obligations.