Whiteleg Shrimp Mortality Triggers ICAR Disease Investigation in West Bengal

Purba Medinipur, West Bengal | Aquaculture | Shrimp health | September 11–15, 2026

ICAR–Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute (ICAR-CIFRI), Barrackpore, conducted field-level disease surveillance following reports of mass mortality among cultured whiteleg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) in the Chandipur–Nandigram area of Purba Medinipur.

The investigation was undertaken under India’s National Surveillance Programme for Aquatic Animal Diseases (NSPAAD).

Scientists inspected affected ponds, assessed clinical and epidemiological signs, examined pond conditions and farm-management practices, and collected shrimp and environmental samples for laboratory investigation.

Preliminary field screening indicated that Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei (EHP) infection and Running Mortality Syndrome (RMS) could be contributing factors. ICAR-CIFRI explicitly stated that these observations are preliminary and do not constitute a confirmed diagnosis. Further pathogen-specific testing and histopathology are required.

The investigation also identified water-quality and pond-management factors relevant to shrimp health, including dissolved-oxygen and pH fluctuations, inadequate alkalinity, high organic loading and accumulation of bottom waste.

Farmers were advised to remove dead and moribund shrimp, restrict movement between affected and unaffected ponds where practical, maintain aeration, remove organic waste and avoid indiscriminate use of antibiotics and chemicals.

Strategic / Analyst View

The episode demonstrates the increasing importance of integrated aquatic-animal health surveillance.

Shrimp mortality is rarely explained by a pathogen alone; disease expression can be influenced by pathogen load, water quality, pond ecology, stocking density, feeding and farm biosecurity.

This creates a broad commercial opportunity for rapid diagnostics, environmental sensors, pathogen surveillance, farm-health software, water-quality monitoring and evidence-based therapeutics.

The ICAR approach also reinforces an important industry principle: diagnostic confirmation should precede indiscriminate treatment.