To assess
the potential of moribund shrimp to transmit disease, gill samples fromindividuals inoculatedwith YHV at either
12 h or 24 h after the onset of the first obvious signs of morbidity were injected into naïve P. monodon housed in
individual tanks. Over a 30-d period following inoculation, the mortality rate was higher among shrimps injected
with 12 h gill extracts than in those injected with 24 h gill extracts. Taken together, these data suggest that cannibalism
of moribund shrimps presents a far greater potential to transmit the yellow head disease than does
water exposure alone. Removing moribund shrimps as soon as morbidity becomes evident could represent an
efficient measure to reduce YHV transmission and disease outbreaks.