Safety and protective effect of a disinfectant (STEL water) for white spot syndrome viral infection in shrimp.

The efficacy of STEL water for protection against white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) infection was evaluated using shrimp. The LC50 of residual chlorine (Cl-) in STEL water for brood-stock and 2-mo-old shrimp were 2.3 and 3.2 ppm, respectively. All 2-month-old shrimp raised in seawater containing more than 40 microl 2l(-1) of a WSSV-infected tissue homogenate died within 3 d post-exposure (dpe). Thus, a 10-fold dose of 400 microl 2 l(-1) was used in the disinfection tests. Low concentrations of STEL water effectively prevented mortality of shrimp at this challenge dose. All 2-month-old shrimp exposed to seawater with 400 microl of viral homogenate disinfected with STEL water at Cl- concentrations over 0.125 ppm for 1 and 10 min, lived until 5 dpe. With 5-mo-old shrimp, all positive control shrimps died within 3 dpe, whereas most shrimp reared in seawater disinfected with STEL water for 1 h before addition of homogenate lived until 5 dpe. Results suggested that continuous disinfection of seawater with STEL water may be effective for preventing WSSV infection in shrimp.