Nutritional Fish Disease and Public Health Concern

Abstract

Nutritionally sound food is the most important basic requirement for proper growth, good health and mental development of human beings. Aquaculture foods are a unique source of the essential long-chain omega-3 fatty acids, important for optimal brain and neurodevelopment in children and aquatic animals also. Aquaculture, the single most important animal food producing agricultural sector for human is facing a lot of challenges to provide secured animal food. This review was conducted to investigate the significance, underlying causes and negative effects of nutritional diseases of fish on aquaculture food production, food security, and public health safety. Investigation reveals that the nutritional diseases are very dangerous threat to aquaculture food production as these are very difficult to identify which can result in increased production cost, investment lost, increased fish mortality, susceptibility to infectious disease and finally decreased yield quality and quantity. Food security and public health safety are at great risk due to the frequent outbreak of disease and treatment involving synthetic drugs. It is very essential to control nutritional diseases to increase fish supply through aquaculture production because the shortage of specific nutrients will make the immune system weaker to perform their roles against the foreign invader. It is well established that not only the deficiencies of various nutrients can compromise the immuno-competence, excess nutrient supply than required levels for optimal growth also influences the immune responses and disease resistance significantly.