Viral diseases are among the most important of all health issues in aquaculture and fisheries. Their rapid and accurate recognition is central to the prevention of spread and the control of emerging diseases. Morphological diagnosis based on gross pathology, histopathology and electron microscopy remain vital in the diagnostic process, and are essential to complement accurate molecular aetiolgical diagnosis. Practitioners of morphological diagnosis are becoming scarce, and this application enables knowledge transfer from one of the world's foremost experts, Dr Teruo Miyazaki from Japan. This knowledge transfer requires a hand-on approach in a small group setting, using a multiheaded microscope with plenty of opportunity for discussion. for this reason a face-to-face visit is essential. Improving aquatic animal health diagnostic capacity is a priority for FRDC specifically to prevent and manage disease incursions, and to develop diagnostic procedures and techniques to rapidly detect and identify pathogens. This is also a priority for state jurisdictions.

In addition to viral diseases, Dr Miyazaki has career long expertise in general fish pathology, so his visit presents diverse opportunities for continuing education of Australian aquatic animal health diagnosticians.