10.7910/DVN/ECFS7N Hazrat Ali https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6303-1336 WorldFish Harvard Dataverse 2019 Medicine, Health and Life Sciences Prawn Shrimps Management Products Hazards Policies WorldFish WorldFish WorldFish WorldFish Hazrat Ali WorldFish 2018-01-06 2019-07-28 2019-07-28 2025-02-05 20.500.12348/714 10.7910/DVN/ECFS7N/WDOCUO 10.7910/DVN/ECFS7N/LHT7QG 507751 172803 169971 application/pdf text/tab-separated-values text/tab-separated-values 3.5 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Diseases have been recognized as the major obstacle to the shrimp (Penaeus monodon) and prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) aquaculture production in Bangladesh. This study provided an assessment of shrimp and prawn diseases/syndromes, health management practices, and occupational health hazards associated with the handling of chemical and biological products to prevent and treat shrimp and prawn diseases. A survey was conducted using a semi-structured questionnaire with 380 shrimp and prawn farmers in the southwest of Bangladesh during February and June of 2016. The farms were categorized on the basis of the three cropping patterns: shrimp polyculture, prawn polyculture, and shrimp and prawn polyculture. Eight different diseases and/or symptoms were reported by the surveyed farmers. The white spot disease and the broken antenna and rostrum symptom were the most common in shrimp and prawn species, respectively. In total, 35 chemical and biological products (4 antibiotics, 15 disinfectants, 13 pesticides, 2 feed additives and probiotics) were used to treat and/or prevent diseases in the all farm categories. The major constraints for disease management were limited access to disease diagnostic service, inadequate product application information and lack of knowledge on better management practices. Handling chemicals and preparation of medicated feed with bare hands was identified as a potential occupational health hazard. This study suggests in improving farmers’ knowledge and skill on disease diagnostics and health management practices, and appropriate handling of potentially hazardous chemicals. Department for International Development (DFID)