While addressing Dr Manimaran said the Department of Fish Pathology and Health Management of FCRI has one of the very few well established fish virology laboratories in India and is capable of diagnosing viral disease problems in fish and shrimps, reports TheHindu.
He said aquaculture was developing rapidly since fish is considered as healthy food. Viral diseases were certainly a threat to the aquaculture of both fish and shrimp. Hence, it was important in the aquaculture practice to diagnose and treat viral disease in fishes.
The ICAR accorded due recognition to this fact and currently it has a separate subject on aquatic animal health for selecting scientists to the agricultural research service, the Vice-Chancellor added.
G. Sugumar Dean (in-charge) of FCRI, who presided over, narrated the development of coastal aquaculture in Asia and highlighted the need for improving aquaculture practices in a sustainable manner with proper bio-security.
Dr Sugumar emphasised the need for protecting aquaculture from viral diseases, the highest debilitating factor in this sector.
K. Riji John, Head, Department of Fish Pathology and Health Management, who welcomed, gave an overview of the 10-day course sponsored by ICAR, in which the participants would be trained in maintenance of fish cell culture, isolation of viruses, growing viruses in cell culture, calculating infective dose, molecular diagnosis and western blot analysis.
