Carps A Practical Approach to Disease Control and Health Management

The prominence of the carp group of fish is widely recognised in three important economic areas: food production, recreation and the ornamental market. Carp species thus represent over 50% of world fish production and are vital to the economic stability of several countries and global regions.It is therefore crucial that the health of these cultured aquatic species is properly considered and maintained to ensure the sustainability of production and recent disease epidemics, for example grass carp reovirus infections in China and koi herpesvirus disease in Asia and Europe, have caused widespread and devastating effects on the aquaculture industries.This book thus examines how the diseases of carp species can be properly identified, monitored, treated and prevented. It specialises on the most prominent globally occurring carp species, such as Cyprinus carpio (common carp), the Carassius species, and the carp species that predominate in Europe and Asia,such as Ctenopharygodon idellus (grass carp), Hypophthalmichthys molitrix (silver carp), and Hypophthalmichthys nobilis (bighead carp). It also looks at the more specialised production of certain species, for example Catla catla (Catla) and Labeo rohita (Roho), in the Indian subcontinent.With the continuing importance of the carp group of fish, this user-friendly book presents a practical approach to disease diagnosis and treatment that covers both infectious and non-infectious diseases. The detail included about disease, clinical signs and the application of control strategies, such as management practices, therapeutics or vaccination, is an effort to considerably improve general fish health and welfare.

Professor Dave Hoole, is Professor Emeritus in Fish Diseases at Keele University, UK. He has since the early 1980s undertaken extensive scientific research in carp disease and immunology. He has published widely within the scientific literature and books, and given numerous presentations to scientific and non-scientific audiences. He has also served as a director of a fish health service, which scrutinises fish health prior to consent being given for movement of fish under UK legislative requirements. He also acts as a consultant to various UK Fish Health Accreditation bodies.

Professor Dieter Steinhagen is Professor Emeritus at the Fish Disease Research Unit at the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Germany. Since the early 1980s, he worked scientifically a various aspects of pathology and immunology of pathogen-related diseases in carp, on parasites as indicators of anthropogenic stress in ecosystems and on aspects of animal welfare in fish. This work has been funded by national and international organisation and the results have been published in articles and numerous presentations to scientific and non-scientific audiences.

PD Dr. Verena Jung-Schroers is working at the Fish Disease Research Unit of the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Germany, since 2005 and is heading the institute since 2021. She is a specialised fish veterinarian and diplomate of the European Colleges of Aquatic Animal Health and is responsible for the further training of veterinarians in the field of fish diseases. In research projects she works on bacterial infections in fish and other aquatic animals, on the importance of the microbiome in aquaculture systems and on animal welfare. She has published the results of these and other studies in numerous articles and presentations.

Dr Mikolaj Adamek is a Research Associate and Principal Investigator at the Fish Disease Research Unit of the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Germany. Since the mid-2000s he has been working on various aspects of immunology, pathophysiology and diagnostics of pathogen-related diseases in carps, salmonids and tilapia. He works mainly with viral pathogens, looking for prevention and treatment measures that could lead to a reduction in the impact of the disease on fish welfare. His research is funded by national and international sources. The results have been reported in numerous scientific and non-scientific articles and presentations.