Acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND) is an economically significant cause of Peneaus vannamei and Peneaus monodon postlarvae.Early and rapid diagnosis is crucial for the prevention of AHPND spread and disease management.Here,a novel and rapid assay,using recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) technique,for the detection of AHPND-causing agent of Vibrio owensii is developed.Analysis of six independent experimental replicates revealed satisfactory performance of the RPA assay,with sufficiently sensitive to as few as 8 copies of reaction molecules within 9 min at 39 ℃.No cross-reaction with non-AHPND pathogenic bacteria were observed.The assay performance on clinical samples provided comparable results with RT-PCR.This rapid RPA method has great potential for applications either in field use or as a point of care diagnostic technique.