In the analysis for combined monoculture and
polyculture farms, feeding live molluscs was identified as important WSSV risk factors. In addition to feeding
live molluscs, sharing of water source with other farms, having the same receiving and water source, larger
pond size, and higher stocking density were identified as important WSSV risk factors in monoculture farms.
Climate, i.e. stocking during the cold months and sludge removal and its deposition on the dikes were
identified as WSSV risk factors in polyculture farms. Protective factors, listed in decreasing significance, were
feeding with planktons and high mangrove to pond area ratio, both observed in the dataset with both
monoculture and polyculture farms, while only the latter was observed in the dataset for monoculture farms
only. No protective factor was observed in the dataset for polyculture farms.
This study confirmed the negative effect of sharing water source with other farms and identified several new
factors influencing WSSV infection such as feeding live molluscs increases the risk, while feeding with
planktons and high mangrove to pond area ratio reduce the risk