For the interest of folks working on amphibians and imported diseases, Mongabay has a new series focused on North American sallies and the effort to head off an epidemic of Bsal, here's the latest feature:
- *Sometime around 2008, a mysterious disease started killing off the Netherlands’ fire salamanders. Three years later, 96 percent were dead.* - *The disease turned out to be Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal), a relative of the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) that has been implicated in the decline or extinction of some 200 frog species around the world.* - *Scientists think Bsal originated in Asia and spread to Europe through the pet trade. And they believe it’s only matter of time before it gets to the U.S. – the world’s hotspot of salamander diversity, where nearly half of all species may be susceptible.* - *Now, scientists are in a race against time to find the fungus as soon as possible after it gets here in the hopes that quickly enacted quarantines may stop, or at least slow, its spread.* https://news.mongabay.com/2018/09/on-the-hunt-for-a-silent-salamander-killer/ Please share with colleagues and students who love herps. Next in the series, a report from the Southeast US. Erik -- www.erikhoffner.com
