The Thai Department of Fisheries (DOF), 2013 estimated that outbreaks of acute early mortality (often called
early mortality syndrome or EMS) in cultivated shrimp were responsible for a 33% drop in shrimp production
during thefirst quarter of 2013. Similar early mortality in Vietnam was ascribed to specific isolates ofVibrio
parahaemolyticusthat caused acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND) but the status of EMS/AHPND
in Thailand was unclear.