Pathogen Dynamics in Aquatic Animal Health Systems

Aquatic animal health systems encompass a complex web of interactions among pathogens, hosts and environmental factors that shape disease emergence, transmission and outcomes. In both wild and farmed populations, the balance of microbial communities—ranging from viruses and bacteria to fungi and parasites—influences host susceptibility and resilience. Pathogen dynamics are driven by host density, water quality, temperature fluctuations and anthropogenic stressors, all of which can provoke dysbiosis or disrupt colonisation resistance conferred by resident microbiota. Co-infections often exacerbate disease severity, while host immune responses, including innate barrier defences and adaptive mechanisms, work in concert with beneficial microbes to limit pathogen spread. Recent advances in high-throughput sequencing and network analysis have revealed how shifts in microbiome composition and functional potential underpin disease outbreaks, guiding novel interventions such as rationally designed probiotics and precision vaccination strategies. Understanding these dynamics is critical to safeguarding global aquaculture productivity, conserving biodiversity and securing food resources in the face of mounting environmental challenges.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have examined microbiome shifts associated with acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease in shrimp. Detailed profiling of wild, aquacultured and diseased Pacific whiteleg shrimp uncovered distinct bacterial communities in the hepatopancreas and intestine, illuminating taxa enriched in healthy hosts versus those linked to disease onset. These findings pointed to specific microbial signatures that precede clinical symptoms and offered microbial biomarkers for early detection. In parallel, longitudinal monitoring of a shrimp grow-out pond during an outbreak revealed a rapid collapse of stomach microbial diversity and a reorganisation of species-to-species interaction networks. The emergence of pathogenic Vibrio species coincided with altered connectivity among resident and transient taxa, highlighting critical windows for targeted intervention to prevent mass mortality.

Pathogen Dynamics in Aquatic Animal Health Systems publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in pathogen dynamics in aquatic animal health systems across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Pathogen dynamics: Patterns of emergence, transmission and interaction among infectious agents within host populations and environments.

Microbiome: The community of microorganisms and their collective genetic material living in association with a host or environment.

Dysbiosis: Disruption of the normal microbial community balance, often linked to disease.

Co-infection: Concurrent infection of a host by two or more pathogenic organisms, which may intensify disease severity.

Probiotics: Live microorganisms administered to confer health benefits by modulating host microbiota and immunity.

Colonisation resistance: The ability of resident microbiota to inhibit invasion and proliferation of pathogens.

References

1. Rationally designed probiotics prevent shrimp white feces syndrome via the probiotics–gut microbiome–immunity axis. npj Biofilms and Microbiomes (2024).
2. Microbiome of Pacific Whiteleg shrimp reveals differential bacterial community composition between Wild, Aquacultured and AHPND/EMS outbreak conditions. Scientific Reports (2017).
3. Microbiome Dynamics in a Shrimp Grow-out Pond with Possible Outbreak of Acute Hepatopancreatic Necrosis Disease. Scientific Reports (2017).
4. Current understanding on the roles of gut microbiota in fish disease and immunity. 动物学研究 (2018).