WASHINGTON— The journal Science today published a study
documenting a new threat to the world’s salamanders from a deadly
skin-eating fungus. A relative of the killer chytrid fungus that has
devastated frog populations, the new disease called Batrachochytrium
salamandrivorans, or Bs, is sweeping through salamander populations in
Europe. While the disease has not yet reached the United States,
scientists found that imports of infected individuals pose a risk of
spreading the highly lethal disease to native salamanders in the United
States.
“If
this disease is allowed to spread here in the United States, our
salamanders will die off in mass numbers,” said the Center’s Collette
Adkins Giese, a Center for Biological Diversity attorney and biologist
who works to save endangered reptiles and amphibians. “Chytrid fungus,
along with the white-nose syndrome that’s wiping out millions of our
bats, has shown the devastating impacts of wildlife diseases. We need to
do everything in our power to protect our nation’s amphibians and
prevent the spread of this disease.”
The
new fungus appears to specifically target salamanders and has
practically wiped out fire salamanders in the Netherlands, reducing that
population to only 4 percent of what it was just four years ago. It
kills the amphibians by eating through their skin, exposing them to
lethal bacterial infections. Luckily for other amphibians, the new
fungus does not appear to kill frogs and toads.
Results
from lab tests show that the disease is especially lethal to newts,
which are a kind of salamander. Several species of newts are found in
the United States, including the eastern newt, a common aquarium pet
that is collected from the wild or purchased. The striped newt, found in
Florida and Georgia, has been a candidate for Endangered Species Act
protection since 2011.
“The
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service must act fast to keep this disease from
infecting wild salamanders in the United States,” said Peter Jenkins,
President of the Center for Invasive Species Prevention. “With nearly
200 species, the United States is a global hotspot of salamander
biodiversity. If we don’t act fast, we could lose these vital and
popular animals from the wild.”
Infected
individuals could reach the United States through the extensive
commercial salamander trade. For example, more than 2.3 million
individuals of Chinese fire-bellied newt were imported into the United
States from 2001 to 2009. According to the study published today, the
new fungus can effectively be transmitted across multiple salamander
species through direct contact. The study warns that “the process of
globalization with its associated human and animal traffic can rapidly
erode ancient barriers to pathogen transmission” and these pathogens
have “the potential to rapidly pose a threat of extinction.”
Scientists
have developed a DNA-based test for detecting Bs, and infected animals
held in captivity can be effectively treated with antifungal baths. But
once the disease enters wild populations, it is nearly impossible to
stop its spread to new populations. Environmental groups are calling for
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to suspend all imports of
salamanders into the United States unless they are certified to be free
of the fungus.
______________________________
Collette L. Adkins Giese
Amphibian and Reptile Senior Attorney
Center for Biological Diversity
651-955-3821
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