Detection of monodon baculovirus and whitespot syndrome virus in apparently healthy Penaeus monodon postlarvae from India by polymerase chain reaction S.K. Otta, Indrani Karunasagar, Iddya Karunasagar * Department of Fishery Microbiology, College of Fisheries, University of Agricultural Sciences, Mangalore 575 002, India Received 19 December 2001; received in revised form 5 July 2002; accepted 8 July 2002 Abstract The simultaneous presence of monodon baculovirus (MBV) and whitespot syndrome virus (WSSV) in apparently healthy postlarvae of Penaeus monodon from different hatcheries in India was studied by nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR). MBV could be detected in 54% of the samples. However, only 15% of samples were positive by non-nested reaction. WSSV could be detected in 75% of samples, 19% being positive by non-nested reaction. The results show simultaneous presence of WSSV and MBV in many samples at various degrees of infection. Only 14% of the samples analysed were negative for both viruses. D 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Whitespot syndrome virus; Monodon baculovirus; Penaeus monodon; Postlarvae; Polymerase chain reaction 1. Introduction Viral diseases are a major problem for shrimp aquaculture all over the world. Although several viral diseases have been reported in Asia (Flegel, 1997), widespread mortalities have been reported mainly due to monodon baculovirus (MBV) and whitespot syndrome virus 0044-8486/03/$ - see front matter D 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/S0044-8486(02)00340-X * Corresponding author. Tel.: +91-824-246-384; fax: +91-824-246-384. E-mail addresses: mircen@sancharnet.in, karuna8sagar@yahoo.com (I. Karunasagar). www.elsevier.com/locate/aqua-online Aquaculture 220 (2003) 59 – 67