Taura syndrome, a disease important to shrimp farms in the Americas

Penaeus vannamei is the principal penaeid shrimp farmed in the Americas and, by economic criteria, Taura syndrome is the most important virus disease affecting its production. The dominant effect of Taura syndrome is mortality of shrimp, which is usually highest in the first 40 days from stocking into shrimp ponds. Initially thought to be caused by agrochemical pollution, the aetiology of Taura syndrome is now known to be due to a newly described shrimp virus, the Taura syndrome virus (TSV). Shrimp that die from Taura syndrome disease have multifocal acute necrosis of the cuticle epidermis and underlying tissue. Diagnosis of the disease is made by histopathological demonstration of the pathogonomic lesions in the integument of acutely moribund shrimp or by demonstration of TSV in necrotic foci by in situ hybridization using a commercially available cDNA gene probe. Since the discovery of Taura syndrome in 1992 on shrimp farms in Ecuador, the disease has disseminated into virtually all major shrimp-growing areas in the Americas. Taura syndrome has not been documented from shrimp farms outside of the western hemisphere. Practical and effective means for control of Taura syndrome are important areas of research for the shrimp farming industry in the Americas.