Fish farms in Ghana have been hit by the Infectious Spleen and Kidney Virus diseases in fish.
The country’s ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development confirmed the outbreak of the virus and announced that a mass immunization of fish farms in the country has started.
Spleen and Kidney virus cause diseases in a variety of freshwater fish and leads to high mortality of fish between 50 and 100 per cent of farm stocks.
The state newspaper, Daily Graphic reported that the mass immunization exercise was launched following the mysterious losses of tilapia in fish farms along the Volta Lake.
According to the newspaper reporting, ten vaccinators are carrying out the exercise with each expected to vaccinate 1,500 fish a day, totalling 150, 000 fish vaccinated in a day.
In 2018 Ghana imposed a ban on the importation of all tilapia fish effective hoping to prevent the outbreak of the Tilapia Lake Virus.
The virus according to Ghanaian officials represented “a huge risk to the global tilapia industry.”
The Tilapia Lake Virus (TilV) has no cure. It is a virus that infects populations of tilapia.
The virus is responsible for decimation of some populations and was only discovered recently.
These programmes will take place “at different levels to farmers, hatchery operators, extension officers, and consumers and the general public.”
Ghana’s coastal areas are known for fishing which many families depend on.
Illegal fishing methods have led to the depletion of fish stock in the country.
Fish farming has become the alternative to providing stocks for the market but that is on a small scale.
Tilapia is popular in Ghana and served with all kinds of food.
Source: Africafeeds.com
