BAU Correspondent

A workshop on vaccination for fish health management, disease prevention, and productivity enhancement was held at the Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute (BFRI). The BFRI is located on the premises of the Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) campus. BFRI and University Putra Malaysia (UPM) jointly organized this workshop.

The workshop was held at the BFRI Central Auditorium at 11 am on Thursday.

Dr Md Zulfikar Ali, Director General of BFRI, chaired the workshop, where special guests included researchers Professor Dr Zamri Saad and Associate Professor Dr. Ina Salwany Md Yasin from University Putra Malaysia (UPM), as well as Dr Anuradha Bhadra, Chief Scientific Officer of BFRI, and Senior Scientific Officer Dr Md Shirajum Monir from BFRI.

At the beginning of the workshop, BFRI's work, research, and objectives were presented. Then, Senior Scientific Officer Dr Md Shirajum Monir of BFRI presented a presentation on the importance of vaccine provision for fish health protection and production enhancement. Subsequently, researchers from University Putra Malaysia's Institute of Bioscience and Therapeutics Laboratory presented on vaccine production, research, and treatment for aquatic animal health and fish production enhancement.

In their presentation, researchers stated that tilapia, stinging catfish, Clarias (Magur), Climbing perch, and pangasius were considered as disease-resistant fish. But currently, this is changing.

In Bangladesh, 11% of pangasius, 8% of carp, 9% of tilapia, 10% of Vietnamese koi, 26% of Gulsha, and 36% of shing fish farms are infected with pathogenic bacteria and viruses. This could result in potential losses of $10 billion.

Despite efforts to reduce losses through the use of antibiotics, probiotics, and various chemicals, they have proven ineffective. Moreover, the use of antibiotics, probiotics, and various chemicals causes extensive damage to the environment and human health. Therefore, to combat this massive loss, BFRI has developed a vaccine called Koi Vac for Vietnamese koi in fish farms.

Dr Md Zulfikar Ali, Director General of BFRI, said that BFRI is the only institution in Bangladesh working exclusively on fish production, development, and dissemination. If we can work collaboratively with researchers from University Putra Malaysia, we can engage in mutually beneficial cooperation.

Consequently, disease identification, disease prevention, and production enhancement in fish from both countries will be possible.