Global seafood provides almost 20% of all animal protein in diets, and aquaculture is, despite weakening trends, the fastest growing food sector worldwide. Recent increases in production have largely been achieved through intensification of existing farming systems, resulting in higher risks of disease outbreaks.

Tilapia lake virus is a newly emerging virus that is associated with significant mortalities in farmed tilapia. With cases reported across Africa, Asia and South America, the virus represents a huge risk to the global tilapia industry, whose 2015 production was valued at USD 9.8 billion. All countries with a tilapia industry must be vigilant and act quickly to investigate cases of mortalities in farms.

Tilapia lake virus is a newly emerging virus that is associated with significant mortalities in farmed tilapia. With cases reported across Africa, Asia and South America, the virus represents a huge risk to the global tilapia industry, whose 2015 production was valued at USD 9.8 billion. All countries with a tilapia industry must be vigilant and act quickly to investigate cases of mortalities in farms.

Tilapia lake virus (TiLV) is an emerging infectious agent that has recently been identified in diseased tilapia on three continents. At the time of writing, scientific publications have reported TiLV in samples collected from Colombia, Ecuador, Egypt, Israel and Thailand. While the link between TiLV and disease outbreaks in Israel and Thailand are well documented, further investigations are being undertaken to determine the significance of TiLV in the other countries.

Tilapia lake virus (TiLV) is a recently described virus affecting wild and farmedtilapines. At present, it has been reported on three continents (Asia, Africa andSouth America) and the number of countries where the agent has been detected islikely to increase rapidly as a result of increased awareness, surveillance and avail-ability of diagnostic methods. Any lack of openness regarding the TiLV status of atranslocating live tilapia population destined for aquaculture may inadvertentlycontribute to the spread of the agent.

The CGIAR Research Program on Fish Agri-Food Systems (FISH) focuses on the interlinked challenges of sustainable aquaculture and small-scale fisheries (SSFs), and enhancing the contribution of fish to poverty reduction, improved human nutrition and environmental management, with a geographical focus on Africa, Asia and the Pacific.

The aquaculture sector in Bangladesh is an important employer and a significant source of foreign exchange. In addition, it contributes significantly to food security due to the role of fish in peoples’ diets, the most important source of protein and micronutrients. However, infectious diseases represent an important barrier to sector development due to economic losses and vulnerability of smallholders.

Since 2009, tilapia aquaculture has been threatened by mass die-offs in Israel and Ecuador, which is caused by a novel Orthomyxo-like (RNA) virus named as Tilapia lake virus (TiLV). This has been reported as a newly emerging virus that causes syncytial hepatitis of tilapia (SHT). As of 2016, countries affected by this emerging disease include Israel, Ecuador, Colombia and Egypt. In 2017, Thailand and Chinese Taipei confirmed the presence of the virus among farmed tilapia, which also caused mass mortalities. These are the first reports of the disease in Asia-Pacific Region.

The Myanmar Fisheries and Aquaculture Research Symposium was held in Yangon on 16-17 November 2017. The event provided a unique opportunity for national and international researchers to take stock of present sectoral knowledge and jointly identify the most promising pathways for impactful fisheries and aquaculture research in Myanmar. The event was cooperatively organized by WorldFish and the Department of Fisheries (DoF) under the umbrella of the Fisheries Research Development Network (FRDN).

The sustainable development of aquaculture in Egypt needs the efforts coordinated of different sectors. Disease prevention is the most important aspect for protecting the success in the field of aquaculture. Egyptian farmers, like other farmers in other countries, use different chemicals and antibiotics to treat fish diseases. This approach is dangerous to aquaculture because of the residue in fish body and also for the development of drug resistant bacteria that not only affect fish but also induce harmful effect on humans and may have a deteriorative effect on the environment.