OCCURRENCE AND PATHOLOGY OF PENAEUS-MONODON BACULOVIRUS INFECTION IN HATCHERIES AND PONDS IN THE PHILIPPINES

Samples from Penaeus monodon hatcheries (2-3 day old larvae or Zoea 1 to 34 day old post larvae or PL34) and ponds (15 to 159 days old in the pond) were histologically examined for the presence of eosinophilic occlusion bodies in hypertrophied nuclei ot the hepatopancreas which is indicative of P. monodon baculovirus infection. The earliest stage found infected in the hatcheries was PL3. Infected shrimp from ponds had slow growth rates and generally pale yellow to reddish brown hepatopancreata. The infection was also characterized by the necrosis and degeneration of the hepatopancreatic tubules with secondary bacterial invasion.