[6] Reports of losses due to white spot disease came from China in 1993[7] where it led to a virtual collapse of the shrimp farming industry.

In late 1995, it was reported in the United States, 1998 in Central and South America, 1999 in Mexico, in 2000 in the Philippines, and in 2011 in Saudi Arabia.

It was claimed that the Australian prawn industry was not advised about the white spot disease in case the publicity might jeopardise any prosecutions.

[8] In November 2016, the virus was detected on a prawn farm on the Logan River in south-east Queensland,[9] for the first time in the wild in Australia.

The nucleocapsid consists of 15 conspicuous vertical helices located along the long axis; each helix has two parallel striations, composed of 14 globular capsomers, each of which is 8 nm in diameter.

While shrimp can survive with the virus for extended periods of time, factors such as stress can cause the outbreak of WSS.

Most of the cultured penaeid shrimps (Penaeus monodon, Marsupenaeus japonicus, Litopenaeus vannamei, and Fenneropenaeus indicus) are natural hosts of the virus.

are reported to be infected with variable severities depending on the lifestage of the host and presence of external stressors (temperature, salinity, bacterial diseases, pollutants).

Infected cells have prominent intranuclear occlusions that initially stain eosinophilic, but become basophilic with age; hypertrophied nuclei with chromatin margination; and cytoplasmic clearing.

Chemical composition of the spots is similar to the carapace, calcium forming 80–90% of the total material, and may have derived from abnormalities of the cuticular epidermis.

Stocking of uninfected shrimp seeds and rearing them away from environmental stressors with extreme care to prevent contamination are useful management measures.