11 Shrimp Diseases that Often Threaten Farmers & How to Prevent them

Shrimp disease is something that needs to be overcome by Farmers so that the harvest does not fail. Moreover, some diseases can cause death.

Diseases can occur due to various factors, ranging from dirty water quality, wrong care, to improper selection of fry.

You can also experience a big impact due to shrimp disease, namely loss of appetite so that its development is slow. But what's worse, shrimp can experience mass death.

You need to take care of the shrimp ponds so that their cultivation can be free from shrimp diseases. For this reason, knowledge about shrimp diseases is mandatory for farmers.

In this article, we will discuss in detail and clearly the types of shrimp diseases and ways to deal with them. Let's see!

11 Types of Common Shrimp Diseases

Diseases in shrimp you need to watch out for early on. This is because this disease can cause crop failure. Here are the types of deadly diseases that often occur in shrimp.

1. Vibriosis

If the shrimp has vibriosis, the shrimp's shell becomes thin and black sores appear on the body. In addition, the shrimp's limbs are also incomplete, such as the antennae and legs that have been severed.

These characteristics are symptoms of vibriosis that you need to pay attention to. Vibriosis disease can increase death by up to 85%.

2. Acute Hepatopancreatic Necrosis Disease (AHPND)

AHPND is a dangerous shrimp disease that can cause mass death. This disease can cause death of up to 100% which you can observe in 30-35 days.

The symptoms of this disease cause shrimp to have a lack of appetite, black spots on the hepatopancreas, shrimp to become weak so they can sink to the bottom of the pond, empty digestive tract, and soft skin.

3. Black Gills

This disease causes the gills of shrimp which are usually opaque white to turn yellow or brown. If the infection is acute, the gills will be brown or black accompanied by wasting and damage to the gills.

Black gill disease is caused by low water quality, low DO, and excessive stocking density. If not prevented, the shrimp will experience respiratory problems and even death.

4. White Stool Disease

This disease is characterized by the color of white shrimp feces. White Feces Disease is very dangerous because it can cause mass death in a shrimp pond. Therefore, you need to take precautions.

This disease is usually caused by pool water that is too dirty. Therefore, cleaning pond water is important to maintain the health of your shrimp.

5. Myo

Serangan myo pasti menyebabkan kematian pada udang budidaya Bapak/Ibu. Penyakit udang ini disebabkan oleh virus myonecrosis.

The sign that the shrimp is affected by myo is that the color becomes slightly reddened and the third segment until the shrimp tail is limp. If you see this sign on your shrimp culture, then you need to be vigilant.

6. White Spots

White spot disease generally attacks shrimp, including vannamei shrimp. If exposed, the shrimp will lose their appetite leading to death.

The initial symptom of this disease is the appearance of white spots on the body of the shrimp. The cause of this disease because the pool water is too dirty and cold.

7. Yellow Head

This shrimp disease causes the heads of the shrimp to turn yellow. The death rate from this disease can reach 100% in a matter of days. Therefore, you need to watch out for it.

8. Taura Syndrome

Taura syndrome menyebabkan udang menjadi lemah dan muncul bercak-bercak hitam pada bagian tubuh. Selain itu, seluruh tubuh udang akan berwarna kemerahan terutama bagian kipas ekor. Kulit udang juga menjadi lembek. Dampak dari penyakit ini dapat menyebabkan kematian pada udang.

9. White Spot Disease

Early symptoms of White Spot Disease can be seen from the appearance of circular white spots accompanied by redness on the shrimp's body. This disease causes the shrimp to lose their appetite and appear to be dying.

10. Hypodermal Infection and Hematopoietic Necrosis (IHHNV)

Shrimp growth and weight are unstable and carapace formation is inhibited. Infected shrimp will swim to the surface of the water, remain motionless and then sink to the bottom of the pond.

11. Enterocytozoon Hepatopenaei

If exposed to Enterocytozoon Hepatopenaei will result in slowing the growth of cultivated shrimp. The back of the shrimp will also experience a white discoloration. This disease can cause a decrease in harvested shrimp weight.

How to Prevent Shrimp Disease 

There are several ways to prevent shrimp disease that you need to know. Here's how powerful it is!

1. Application of Biosecurity

Biosecurity is a way of preventing disease from entering the cultivation system. Simple biosecurity applications that you can apply are water quality management and sanitation. In addition, animals that cause disease also need to be quarantined/moved from the aquaculture pond to another pond so as not to transmit the disease to other shrimp.

2. Using Certified Benur

Choosing superior fry is a way of preventing disease that you can do. Certified pathogen-free fry is one of the requirements for successful shrimp farming.

3. Giving Probiotics

Probiotics are good bacteria given to your shrimp cultivation. Generally, the types of good bacteria given are types of lactobacillus and bacillus. These good bacteria will compete with pathogens so that pathogens have difficulty infecting cultivated shrimp.

4. Administration of Immunostimulation

Immunostimulants function to increase the immunity of cultivated shrimp. If given an immunostimulant, shrimp will be more resistant to disease. The immunostimulant that is usually given to shrimp is vitamin C.

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