Thailand's Shrimp Industry In Crisis
21 images Created 14 May 2013
Shrimp farmers in Southeast Asia are in an existential crisis. Early Mortality Syndrome - EMS - is killing their baby shrimp before they reach market size. Shrimp production in China, Vietnam and Malaysia plunged up to 80% after EMS decimated their shrimp farms.
EMS hit Thailand's shrimp farms in early 2013. The number of shrimp killed isn't known yet, but stores that sell supplies to shrimp farmers report that their business is off by about 80%.
Shrimp ponds are normally full of water are dry and roadside stalls that sell shrimp and prawns to motorists are empty.
The United Nations' FAO has determined that the die off is caused by a strain of a bacterium commonly found in brackish coastal waters around the globe, Vibrio parahaemolyticus.
A team of researchers at the University of Arizona were able to isolate the strain and use it to infect healthy shrimp with EMS/AHPNS — a scientific method known as Koch's Postulate and the epidemiologist's equivalent of a smoking gun.
EMS poses no threat to humans, whether they eat the shrimp or work with them, but there is no known care for EMS, so the shrimp die offs will likely continue until a cure can be found. International officials hope to prevent EMS' spread to shrimp farms in Africa and Latin America.
EMS hit Thailand's shrimp farms in early 2013. The number of shrimp killed isn't known yet, but stores that sell supplies to shrimp farmers report that their business is off by about 80%.
Shrimp ponds are normally full of water are dry and roadside stalls that sell shrimp and prawns to motorists are empty.
The United Nations' FAO has determined that the die off is caused by a strain of a bacterium commonly found in brackish coastal waters around the globe, Vibrio parahaemolyticus.
A team of researchers at the University of Arizona were able to isolate the strain and use it to infect healthy shrimp with EMS/AHPNS — a scientific method known as Koch's Postulate and the epidemiologist's equivalent of a smoking gun.
EMS poses no threat to humans, whether they eat the shrimp or work with them, but there is no known care for EMS, so the shrimp die offs will likely continue until a cure can be found. International officials hope to prevent EMS' spread to shrimp farms in Africa and Latin America.
