Title : Prevalence of Vibrio sp. in farmed shrimp and application of probiotics as a possible strategy for the prevention and treatment
Abstract:
Vibrio is a well-known opportunistic bacterial pathogen with a long history of causing substantial economic losses and mass mortality in shrimp aquaculture. It can cause up to 100% mortality and is estimated to cost the shrimp industry $3 billion in global losses each year. Early mortality syndrome (EMS), also known as acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND), is one of the most recent cases of vibrio-related diseases and it has put a significant dent in Asian shrimp production profits over the last decade. The causative pathogen Vibrio parahaemolyticus is also associated with seafood contamination leading to food-borne illnesses around the world. Studies were conducted to record the pathogenic profile of Vibrio sp., their virulence, abundance and distribution in shrimps farmed in Inland saline water and if their pathogenicity is influenced by any kind of alterations in salinity. A total of 181 Vibrio isolates comprised of 12 species i.e., Vibrio parahaemolyticus (22.65%), V. alginolyticus (17.13%), V. cholerae (12.15%), V. fluvialis (11.60%), V. vulnificus (8.84%), V. furnissii (8.84%), V. campbellii (7.73%), V. harveyi (6.63%), V. proteolyticus (2.76%), V. splendidus (0.55%), V. mimicus (0.55%) and V. mediterranei (0.55%) were recorded from the inland saline shrimp farms. Among them, 32 Vibrio isolates exhibited positive results on many of the virulence potential tests such as salt tolerance test, slime formation ability and various hydrolytic assays. Such virulent Vibrio isolates have already been reported to cause several diseases in shrimp farming. The reports on the presence of multiple drug-resistant Vibrio sp. in shrimp aquaculture systems emphasizes the need to find alternative measures to control this bacterial pathogen in shrimp farming. To combat Vibrio infection in shrimp farming, probiotics have acquired popularity as an alternative to antibiotics and as a bioaugmentation strategy. An experiment was conducted to determine the effect of probiotic on the health and vibriosis of shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei. A probiotic feed was used for healthy and vibrio challenged shrimp. The results showed that the probiotic-fed shrimp displayed better growth and survival rate than the control and significantly improved the resistance of L. vannamei to this bacterial infection.
What will the audience learn from your presentation?
- It will help the audience to understand the prevalence of Vibrio pathogen in farmed shrimp and the need for a strategy to mitigate the disease.
- The presentation will also explore the importance of a probiotics-incorporated diet to combat vibrio infections that can also reduce the antimicrobial resistance issues in shrimp culture systems. The growth and survival of experimental animals were found to be higher in the probiotic administrated group than in the control, indicating the possible solution for preventing and controlling vibriosis.
