an article of potential interest - taken from International Society for Infectious Diseases mail posting
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ProMED-AHEAD Digest Wednesday, May 24 2006 Volume 2006 : Number 168
CHYTRID FUNGUS, FROGS - WORLDWIDE: POSSIBLE SOURCE
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Date: 24 May 2006
From: ProMED-mail <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Source: BBC News [edited]
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5008940.stm>
Bullfrog linked to fungus spread
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An invasive frog species may be implicated in the spread of a fungus linked
to global amphibian decline, research indicates. Scientists writing in the
journal Biology Letters found that non-native North American bullfrog
populations routinely carry the chytrid fungus. The deadly fungus has been
implicated in many amphibian extinctions. The scientists suggest the
bullfrog may act as a vector, because it can carry the fungus without
developing disease.
The North American bullfrog (_Rana catesbeiana_) is the largest of the
North American frogs, growing to 20 cm (8 in) in length and 0.5 kg (1 lb)
in weight. The bullfrog was initially introduced to countries around the
world to be farmed for frog-legs and was later imported as a pet or to
decorate garden ponds. But it has since proven a scourge to many native
frog species, either by competing with or even preying on them.
But this latest study also implicates the frog with the spread of a fungus
which causes disease and death in many species of amphibians. An
international team of researchers analyzed tissue samples from populations
of bullfrogs introduced from their native North American regions into
Brazil, Uruguay, UK, France, Italy and Japan, as well other regions of
Canada and the US. They discovered that the frogs in every country apart
from Japan carried the chytrid fungus (_Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis_).
"We have shown that introduced bullfrogs consistently carry the fungus in
the wild," explained Dr Trent Garner, lead author of the paper and a
wildlife epidemiologist from the Zoological Society of London. Previous
research, he said, has revealed that although bullfrogs can be infected
with the fungus, they do not go on to develop disease, unlike many other
species of amphibians. "We cannot say for certain that this means they have
carried the chytrid fungus all around the planet. But it does mean that if
you are going to treat introduced bullfrogs as an invasive species, you
really have to treat their diseases as invasive as well," he told the BBC
News website.
Amphibians around the globe are in dramatic decline. The Red List of
Threatened Species and the Global Amphibian Assessment put about 1/3rd of
all amphibian species at high risk of extinction. The chytrid fungus has
been suggested as a key candidate for these dwindling numbers. It clings to
the skins of amphibians, causing a disease called chytridiomycosis,
although the exact cause of death is still to be determined. This is not
the 1st time human intervention has been linked to the spread of the
fungus. The export of the South African clawed frog, _Xenopus laevis_, in
the 1930s and 1940s to Europe for use in pregnancy tests has been suggested
as a possible origin of the epidemic.
[Byline: Rebecca Morelle]
- --
ProMED-mail
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
[A parallel piece to this would be ProMED-mail 20030827.2156, in which
chytrid fungus was found in farmed bullfrogs in the USA. This species has
been shipped worldwide for the restaurant trade. The globalization of this
food source may have contributed to the spread of the fungus. But one has
to wonder if the bullfrogs are for restaurant trade, why or how did the
fungus escape to the wild? It would appear that some food animals escaped
or were set free. There is also a market for various other amphibians that
may well transmit the fungus, even if the carriers are not subject to the
effects of the fungus. It may be in the future that this food source will
be regulated in the same fashion as other food. - Mod.TG]
[see also:
Chytrid fungus, frogs - South Africa 20060203.0344
2005
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Chytrid fungus, frogs - UK (England) 20050916.2741
2004
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Red leg disease, frogs, fatal - UK (02) 20040914.2560
2003
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Chytridiomycosis, farmed bullfrogs - USA 20030827.2156]
............tg/msp/dk
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End of ProMED-AHEAD Digest V2006 #168
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