Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://news.mongabay.com/2014/0411-devitt-chytrid-madagascar.html
Amphibian pandemic may have hit Madagascar, hundreds of species at risk of infection
Elizabeth Devitt
April 11, 2014
Madagascar is one of the world?s hotspots for amphibian diversity, home to so many frog species that many of them don?t even have names. But soon the island may also harbor a fungus causing drastic declines ? even extinctions ? of frogs around the world. Ironically, the wildlife trade that?s often blamed for helping spread the disease may also give scientists a chance to prevent it.
In a study recently published in PLoS ONE, researcher Jonathan Kolby, from the James Cook University in Australia, reported the first positive test for the deadly fungus in a shipment of frogs exported from Madagascar. His findings may give conservationists time to ramp up surveillance and create new strategies to keep the fungus at bay...
Amphibian pandemic may have hit Madagascar, hundreds of species at risk of infection
Elizabeth Devitt
April 11, 2014
Madagascar is one of the world?s hotspots for amphibian diversity, home to so many frog species that many of them don?t even have names. But soon the island may also harbor a fungus causing drastic declines ? even extinctions ? of frogs around the world. Ironically, the wildlife trade that?s often blamed for helping spread the disease may also give scientists a chance to prevent it.
In a study recently published in PLoS ONE, researcher Jonathan Kolby, from the James Cook University in Australia, reported the first positive test for the deadly fungus in a shipment of frogs exported from Madagascar. His findings may give conservationists time to ramp up surveillance and create new strategies to keep the fungus at bay...