Disease risks and outbreaks, and associated farming problems, continue to plague the reality of the shrimp farming industry, and threaten its sustainability. A major challenge is the complexity of this disease threat, as types of disease challenges and their severity vary significantly from one region or country to the other and are difficult to predict. Indeed, many contributing factors such as presence of pathogens, environmental conditions, shrimp health status, and farm biosecurity level, can influence their onset and impact. This complexity makes it difficult for providers of health solutions to propose products and approaches adapted to multiple threats and conditions, especially since most farmers tend to focus on addressing single pathogen risks, overlooking the synergetic damaging effect that multiple pathogen infections can have.
Sanacore® GM (SNGM) is a phytobiotic-based functional feed additive, with broad-spectrum health enhancing properties, widely used as a preventive tool to reduce the severity of infections in shrimp production. SNGM has demonstrated bacterial inhibitory properties which promote a healthy gut microbiota, as well as immuno-modulating properties that restore immunocompetence under production conditions.
In this study, the health status of five commercial shrimp farms in Indonesia were monitored for a period of ten months through on-farm observations. A whole-body shrimp were initially tested for AHPND, EHP, IMNV, and WSSV. Tests were carried out periodically during the culture period. Within each farm, several ponds were treated with SNGM and pond productivities were assessed and compared with control ponds. Throughout this period, coinfections with different degrees of severity were detected from stocking to harvest. The timing and duration of the disease outbreaks varied considerably between farms.
Observations on the performance of each farm are presented to illustrate the efficacy of SNGM to support shrimp in dealing with coinfections. This is a unique report showing several examples of successful application of broad-spectrum health additive under commercial conditions and confirming the importance of adopting preventive strategies to reduce the impact of disease and improve profitability.