APRIL 15, 2014

NR # 3437

Solon asks DA, BFAR to probe & stop spread of White Sport Syndrome Virus threatenin fishpond industry
A lawmaker has called on the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) to immediately investigate and introduce appropriate measures to stop the spread of the deadly hite !pot !yndrome "irus# ( !!")$ which has %een threatening the country&s fishpond industry with the infection of crustaceans$ especially shrimps' (he call was issued %y neophyte Rep' )ilia *acrohon+,u-o (. nd District$ /am%oanga 0ity)$ a vice chairperson of the 1ouse committee on agriculture and food$ who said the prevalence of the !!" has %een affecting the livelihood of families dependent upon the fishpond industry' *acrohon+,u-o said the virus was detected in .232 when it affected fishponds in 0e%u$ Bulacan and /am%oanga del !ur' 4ts presence is practically all over the 5hilippines as represented %y the geographical location of the provinces that were attacked %y said virus which are situated in )u6on$ "isayas and *indanao$# said *acrohon+,u-o in filing 1ouse Resolution 789' !he e:plained the !!" only attacks crustaceans like prawns$ shrimps and cra%s' Recently$ the virus made its presence felt recently in /am%oanga 0ity affecting three %arangays namely "itali$ (ictapul and *angusu according to the legislator' 4t has %een reported that the normal harvest of 3 to 3'; ton per hectare per fishpond has %een down to .22 kilos or less %ecause of the prevalence of the virus$ there%y affecting the livelihood of the families dependent upon the fishpond industry$# said *acrohon+,u-o' <arlier reports have quoted BFAR Dagupan regional director ,estor Domenden as warning that the !!" can wipe out all shrimps in a farm in only two to three days and the infection can eventually cripple the country&s shrimp industry' (he country is currently the third largest e:porter of shrimps in the world' According to e:perts$ the !!" is the sole mem%er of the virus family ,imaviridae' 4t is a large dou%le+stranded D,A virus that infects shrimp and other crustaceans' An overt clinical sign of an infected shrimp is the presence of white spots on the e:oskeleton' Wikipedia cited that the first reported epidemic due to the !!" was from (aiwan in 3==.' 1owever$ it said reports of losses due to white spot disease came from 0hina in 3==9$ where it led to a virtual collapse of the shrimp farming industry' (his was followed %y out%reaks in >apan and ?orea in the same year$ (hailand$ 4ndia and *alaysia in 3==@$ and %y 3==A it had severely affected <ast Asia and !outh Asia' (92) rbb