First documented in the 1990s, a deadly “doomsday fungal disease” affecting frogs and amphibians has been decimating populations worldwide. The disease is caused by Batrachochtyrium dendrobatidis or Bd for short,
In July 2014, Digital Journal featured a story detailing a study that found some frogs with repeated exposure to the fungal disease were able to develop immunity. The study gave some hope that with proper management, the fungus might be controlled.
However, the results of a seven-year study published on Wednesday shows first-time evidence of completely eradicating the chytrid pathogen. The project was led by scientists from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), the National Museum of Natural History in Spain (MNCN-CSIC), and Imperial College London.
Mallorcan midwife toad (Alytes muletensis) tadpoles were treated with a combination of anti-fungal medication along with sterilization of their environment with a common laboratory decontaminant. The research team was able to clear the infection from the toad populations over the study period.
Dr Trenton Garner, Reader within ZSL’s Institute of Zoology, and a co-author of the study, said: “This study represents a major breakthrough in the fight against this highly destructive pathogen; for the first time we have managed to rid wild individuals of infection for a continued period.”
Eliminating the chytrid fungi from a wild population is a giant step forward in controlling and eventually conquering this deadly disease. Because chytrid fungal disease is a global problem, it will take a concerted effort by all countries to tackle this pathogen.
This most interesting study, “Successful elimination of a lethal wildlife infectious disease in nature,” was published in the journal Biology Letters on November 18, 2015.