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An Amphibian Fungus Has Become 'The Most Deadly Pathogen Known To Science'
"On Thursday, 41 scientists published the first worldwide analysis of a fungal outbreak that's been wiping out frogs for decades," The New York Times reports. The outbreak has caused more than 500 species of amphibians to decline significantly (Warning: source may be paywalled; alternative source), making it "the most deadly pathogen known to science." From the report: Scientists first noticed in the 1970s that some frog populations were declining quickly; by the 1980s, some species appeared to be extinct. The losses were puzzling, because the frogs were living in pristine habitats, unharmed by pollution or deforestation. In the late 1990s, researchers discovered that frogs in both Australia and Panama were infected with a deadly fungus, which they named Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis -- Bd, for short. The fungus turned up in other countries, but studies of its DNA suggest that Bd originated on the Korean Peninsula. In Asia, amphibians seem impervious to Bd, but when it got to other parts of the world â" probably via the international trade in pet amphibians -- the pathogen reached hundreds of vulnerable species.
Amphibians are infected with Bd by contact with other animals or by spores floating in the water. The fungus invades skin cells and multiplies. An infected frog's skin will start to peel away as the animal grows sluggish. Before it dies, a frog may manage to hop its way to a new stream or pond, spreading the fungus further. The fungus thrives in cool, moist conditions. As a result, frogs that live in cloud forests on mountainsides have been hit particularly hard. Big frogs are at a greater risk, too, possibly because they don't multiply as quickly as small ones. [The lead author of the new study and his colleagues] identified 501 species in decline, far greater than the previous estimate of 200. Certain factors once thought to account for the decimation of frog populations -- like climate change and deforestation -- are not the greatest threats, the scientists found. The study has been published in the journal Science.
Amphibians are infected with Bd by contact with other animals or by spores floating in the water. The fungus invades skin cells and multiplies. An infected frog's skin will start to peel away as the animal grows sluggish. Before it dies, a frog may manage to hop its way to a new stream or pond, spreading the fungus further. The fungus thrives in cool, moist conditions. As a result, frogs that live in cloud forests on mountainsides have been hit particularly hard. Big frogs are at a greater risk, too, possibly because they don't multiply as quickly as small ones. [The lead author of the new study and his colleagues] identified 501 species in decline, far greater than the previous estimate of 200. Certain factors once thought to account for the decimation of frog populations -- like climate change and deforestation -- are not the greatest threats, the scientists found. The study has been published in the journal Science.
Praise be to Allah
Editors, just stuff it with the paywalls and go find some non-paywalled links, eh.
Here is finally something you could introduce to get rid of those pesky cane toads! I foresee no problems whatsoever. :-)
But internet memes never die. https://imgflip.com/memetempla...
how could this be? Maybe at least Putin's fault or white male supremacy? C'mon give us something to be outraged about.
This I find hard to believe
It is now official - Netcraft has confirmed: *BSD is dying
Yet another crippling bombshell hit the beleaguered *BSD community when recently IDC confirmed that *BSD accounts for less than a fraction of 1 percent of all servers. Coming on the heels of the latest Netcraft survey which plainly states that *BSD has lost more market share, this news serves to reinforce what we've known all along. *BSD is collapsing in complete disarray, as fittingly exemplified by failing dead last in the recent Sys Admin comprehensive networking test.
You don't need to be a Kreskin to predict *BSD's future. The hand writing is on the wall: *BSD faces a bleak future. In fact there won't be any future at all for *BSD because *BSD is dying. Things are looking very bad for *BSD. As many of us are already aware, *BSD continues to lose market share. Red ink flows like a river of blood. FreeBSD is the most endangered of them all, having lost 93% of its core developers.
Let's keep to the facts and look at the numbers.
OpenBSD leader Theo states that there are 7000 users of OpenBSD. How many users of NetBSD are there? Let's see. The number of OpenBSD versus NetBSD posts on Usenet is roughly in ratio of 5 to 1. Therefore there are about 7000/5 = 1400 NetBSD users. BSD/OS posts on Usenet are about half of the volume of NetBSD posts. Therefore there are about 700 users of BSD/OS. A recent article put FreeBSD at about 80 percent of the *BSD market. Therefore there are (7000+1400+700)*4 = 36400 FreeBSD users. This is consistent with the number of FreeBSD Usenet posts.
Due to the troubles of Walnut Creek, abysmal sales and so on, FreeBSD went out of business and was taken over by BSDI who sell another troubled OS. Now BSDI is also dead, its corpse turned over to yet another charnel house.
All major surveys show that *BSD has steadily declined in market share. *BSD is very sick and its long term survival prospects are very dim. If *BSD is to survive at all it will be among OS hobbyist dabblers. *BSD continues to decay. Nothing short of a miracle could save it at this point in time. For all practical purposes, *BSD is dead.
Fact: *BSD is dead
A pathogen that affects entire class of animals, wow, just wow. That's an equivalent of a disease that affected all mammals indiscriminately, I didn't think such a thing was possible.
From the blurb: "...but when it got to other parts of the world â" probably via the international trade in pet amphibians..."
I'm thinking it's the research scientists walking around the "pristine habitats" shortly after they were walking around the not-so pristine habitats of the Korean peninsula. Do you think they changed their shoes between locations? I don't think so.
... perhaps this pathogen can be engineered to infect only politicians.
"Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race." - H. G. Wells
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... Megabrutal Fungus viral strategy. Maybe related ;-)
than the cryptofeces creimerus lepidoptera
amazing
Clearly this is the result of man-made climate change. As the Earth warms, it creates a better environment for funguses to grow. How many nails must there be in the coffin of fossil fuels for man to realize we just have to stop wrecking the Earth?
The spawning of this fungus has been toadaly out of control. We should always remember just how bad a pathogen can be to a species. Never froget about it.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
>the frogs were living in pristine habitats, unharmed by pollution or deforestation
And what's the point, then? If they cannot blame Western society, racism, the patriarchy or at least Donald Trump, the finding is worse than useless but in itself racist, misogynist and islamophobe.
I suggest the responsible scientists should be fired and sentenced to 10 years of compulsory gender sensibility and diversity training.
"probably via the international trade in pet amphibians"
Who knows how many other diseases & invasive species gained access to whole (Western) World (& still do) because of international pet trade!!!
& not to mention, how much of those pets get horrible treatment/suffering of all kinds!!!
How about banning ALL INTERNATIONAL PET TRADE globally/completely/absolutely???
Isn't there some indication that the bees, bats, and frogs are all dying because of pesticides? The actual agent of destruction, in this case a fungus, taking advantage of a weakened immune system?
dammit trump!
Seems like you are triggered already.
Triggered?!?
Who mentioned Hillary/Shillary/ KILLARY?!?!?!?
Lock her up!! Lock her up!! Lock her up!!
#MAGA!! #MAGA!! #MAGA!!
I thought they found a cure 4 years ago!
https://phys.org/news/2015-11-chytrid-scientists-method-killer-fungus.html
I mean, other than the idiot teenagers and the anti-science supporters of the GOP, everyone knows that frogs and toads are the canary in the coal mine... and this means we are in seriously deep sh*t.
Interesting question: any chance that this is someone's test gene editing gone horribly wrong?
But we've been repeatedly told for two decades that global warming was responsible for the decline in frog populations
"Global Warming is Wiping out Frogs" http://www.wwf.mg/?56660/Global-Warming-is-Wiping-out-Frogs
"Frog Extinctions Clearly Linked To Global Warming" http://www.krugerpark.co.za/krugerpark-times-2-20-global-warming-21205.html
"Frogs in high mountainous areas are most affected by global warming" https://www.savethefrogs.com/d/threats/climate/index.html
"Climate change could be a greater threat to tropical frogs than deforestation" https://phys.org/news/2016-10-climate-greater-threat-tropical-frogs.html
(I could continue these citations ad-nauseam)
Even the summary says that its affecting frogs in pristine environment, with no pesticides and long before global warming was a real concern.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
At least not directly (we're probably transporting the fungus around the globe). That contradicts what I've heard said or implied in numerous documentaries and papers for decades - the top suspects were usually pesticides, or climate change, or habitat loss. It's interesting to go back to a 2008 slashdot article on the topic and see how many people jumped on the global warming and habitat loss bandwagon. The correct cause (the fungus) was even mentioned, but only modded up to a +4. Oh well, at least the top-modded main post is warning people not to jump to conclusions.
Are we sure it's not Hillary Clinton's Vagina? I think you guys need to check the study results again.
You hear about people bringing illegal pets with them into another state. I've talked to people in california with ferrets, possums, etc as pets, as well as the more exotic ones.
It doesn't matter if it is a felony if people think they can get away with it. And short of the panopticon society I don't want to live with, we can't do that. The best we can hope for is having it be nominally legal while providing a way for the government to investigate pets and look for petborne diseases, and do limited quarantines/bans for particularly hazardous species. The additional benefit of this is pristine animals kept as pets may allow a method of repopulation if an infected native population is wiped out, or has to be eradicated to keep it from spreading to nearby populations. People keeping them as pets helps cut down the associated care and maintenance costs for government/university/industry until and unless they are needed.
Trump is part of the ruling elite, too, and he's a traitor to his country. What's your point, apologist?
What does Comey's opinion have to do with anything I said? He's doesn't get all triggered at the mention of Hillary's name, like all you #MAGAtardnoramouses do.
Okay dickless.. Keep being angry.. It isn't gonna grow you an adult sized penis.. Your anger will simply keep making you impotent.
. . . says the Trump supporter, speaking from experience.