Vaccination trials against vibriosis in shrimp: A review

Abstract

The breakthrough in commercial shrimp breeding and farming in the 1960s has resulted in the establishment of shrimp aquaculture in Japan, Taiwan, China, The Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and consequently the other parts of the world. White-leg shrimp, Penaeus vannamei has become the main cultured shrimp species and accounted for 53% of the total crustacean aquaculture production. However, the intensifying of shrimp aquaculture activities lead to severe disease outbreaks that appear to incur a great loss in yield and capital. Among the most concerned shrimp bacterial disease is vibriosis that causes a huge loss in production, second only to WSSV. Since antibiotics in aquaculture have been banned by many countries, shrimp farmers are looking into other options. Enhancement of the shrimp immune system through Vibrio ‘vaccine’ has been studied since the early 90s. Early findings on the existence of an alternative adaptive immune system in invertebrates such as shrimp have made vaccination even more promising. However, developing a vaccine for commercial use is not an overnight task especially with the shrimp’s unique alternative adaptive immunity, which still has a lot to be uncovered. A detailed and thorough study should be carried out to further understand its potential. This review discusses the researches that have been carried out toward vaccine development against vibriosis in shrimp and its potential.

Keywords

• Aquaculture
• Shrimp
• Vaccine
• Vibriosis