History, impact, and status of infectious diseases of the Pacific white shrimp Penaeus vannamei (Bonne, 1831) cultivated in Mexico

The Pacific white shrimp Penaeus vannamei is cultivated worldwide and is an important economic resource in Mexico. Despite continuous development of shrimp aquaculture in Mexico, this activity has exhibited variable production rates because of health‐related problems. Most of the health problems have been caused by viruses, such as IHHNV [syn = penstyldensovirus (PstDV1)], TSV, and WSSV, and diseases caused by different species of the genus Vibrio, such as Vibrio parahaemolyticus (Vp AHPND), which contain a plasmid with genes that encode for the toxins PirA and PirB. Even with the losses caused by these pathogens, the production of shrimp continues, and the number of hectares used for production increases year after year. This article presents a review of the history of shrimp farming in Mexico, the predominating health problems, and the estimated economic impact on shrimp culture. The implementation of good management practices in aquaculture production is urgently needed to improve the production on shrimp farms.