Potential and limitation of biocontrol methods against vibriosis: a review

The shrimp industry has an urgent challenge of managing the outbreak of diseases majorly caused by bacteria and viruses. Vibriosis is one of the most common diseases encountered in hatchery and aquaculture shrimp farms. The vibriosis-affected shrimps exhibit symptoms including an empty gut, loss of appetite, and red to brown gills, leading to body malfunction and mortality. Better management practices in hatcheries and grow-out ponds are prerequisites to preventing and controlling Vibrio sp. infection. Chemicals and antibiotics have been applied to control and treat disease-causing pathogens. However, many of these chemicals are not approved for use in several countries for the fear of bioaccumulation in the body and environment of treated organisms as well as the establishment of chemical-resistant strains over time. Therefore, biological control alternatives that are effective, economical, and environmentally safe have been suggested and are reviewed herein. In this review, we advanced the potentials of probiotics and prebiotics, medicinal plants, biofloc, bacteriophages, and nanoparticle technology as bioactive measures in preventing and curing different vibriosis infections in addition to evaluating the limitations and future perspectives.