About White Spot Disease:
- It is a highly contagious viral infection that affects crustaceans such as prawns, yabbies and crabs.
- Causative Agent: It is caused by a virus called as White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV).
- Host range: All decapod crustaceans (order Decapoda), including prawns, lobsters and crabs from marine, brackish or freshwater environments, are considered susceptible to the infection.
- Symptoms: The affected shrimp exhibit anorexia, lethargy, reddish discoloration and presence of circular white spots on the carapace and other exoskeletal parts.
- Transmission: It can be transmitted both horizontally as well as vertically.
- Vertical transmission: It occurs from infected brood stock to postlarvae.
- Horizontal transmission: It is through carrier animals or through cannibalism of infected organisms.
- It has been officially reported from Bangladesh, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
