Acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease in black tiger shrimp: evidence from the 2018 Bangladesh outbreak
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17017/j.fish.1282Keywords:
acute hepatopancreatic necrosis, AP4 nested PCR, Penaeus monodon, pirAB, putative VpAHPNDAbstract
Acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND), formerly known as early mortality syndrome, is a major threat to shrimp aquaculture. We investigated a mortality event affecting black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) in southern Bangladesh in 2018. Hepatopancreatic tissues from 248 moribund shrimp, collected from 39 grow-out ponds on 31 farms, were examined by AP4 nested PCR, microbiological culture, phenotypic characterization, 16S rRNA gene sequencing of representative isolate MKD03, and challenge bioassays. The AHPND-associated AP4 target was detected in 168 of 248 shrimp (67.7%); at least one AP4-positive shrimp was found in 74.4% ponds and 74.2% farms. Six presumptive Vibrio isolates were AP4-positive. Isolate MKD03 showed 99% 16S rRNA sequence similarity to Vibrio parahaemolyticus, supporting its provisional taxonomic placement. Challenge with MKD03 produced 60% and 90% mortality in Artemia nauplii at 24 and 48 hr, respectively, and 94% mortality in P. monodon post-larvae at 24 hr; mortality remained substantially lower in unchallenged controls. Recovery of AP4-positive bacteria from challenged post-larvae further supported the association with the outbreak. Because histopathology and species-specific or multilocus confirmation were not performed, these findings support, but do not definitively establish, the involvement of a putative V. parahaemolyticus AHPND isolate in the 2018 event. The study provides outbreak-specific baseline evidence for targeted surveillance, biosecurity, and preparedness in Bangladesh shrimp aquaculture.
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Data Availability Statement
All data relevant to this study are included within the pa-per and its Supporting Information. The partial 16S rRNA gene sequence of isolate MKD03 has been deposited in GenBank under accession number OQ780863.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Deb Jyoti Mukharjee, Samiur Rahim, Abu Mohammed Ramim, Md. Mahmud Hasan, Marufa Zerin Akhter, Shakila Nargis Khan, Muhammad Manjurul Karim
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