
An amphibian fungus has become “the most deadly pathogen known” - jchanimal
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/28/science/frogs-fungus-bd.html
======
tptacek
Fun factoid: in the 1930s, it was discovered that you could inject human urine
into African clawed frogs; if the frogs subsequently ovulated, the human was
pregnant, and for something like 2 decades this became the universal standard
test for human pregnancy. It's thought by some that the circulation of those
African clawed frogs introduced chytrid pathogens to habitats around the
world, since the first recorded pathological chytrid specimens were from South
Africa.

~~~
openasocket
How on Earth does someone discover that? What possible series of events or
hypotheses would lead someone to perform such an experiment?

~~~
busyant
I don't know why, but this conversation reminds me of a guy I used to work
with.

The guy had studied animal husbandry and he told my co-workers and me that if
you inserted a foreign object (about the size of a quarter) up into the
reproductive area of a hen at _just the right time_, the hen would often lay
an egg with the foreign object trapped inside.[1]

Our business plan:

* get a bunch of hens

* have guys mail $500 + engagement rings to us.

* insert engagement ring into hen

* ship back ring-encased egg to the dudes.

* dudes ask girlfriends to cook an omelette...

I still wonder how anyone figured that out.

[1] There might have been surgery involved. Can't remember.

~~~
cm2187
Is that how they manufacture kinder eggs?

~~~
bdamm
Proper kinder eggs are illegal in the USA so there's a sizable portion of this
readership that won't get that joke.

~~~
lugg
I like how the USA is willing to ban something so silly to protect children
but gun control is offlimits. Like what.

~~~
gotocake
Putting aside the bait, the whole story with a Kinder Eggs has become a tale
told to illustrate a point, but the story itself is nonsense. The US didn’t
specifically ban them, they simply fall under a (sensible) pre-existing law
and no one gives enough of a crap to change it. Simply put it’s banned to sell
candy with something inedible inside of it. This law goes back to the 1930’s
and frankly, makes a lot of sense in the general case.

Besides, slightly modified kinder eggs _are_ sold in the US.

~~~
acqq
Non-US version:
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinder_Surprise](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinder_Surprise)

US version:
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinder_Joy](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinder_Joy)

"Kinder Surprise eggs are legal in Canada and Mexico, but are illegal to
import into the US. In January 2011, the US Customs and Border Protection
(CBP) threatened a Manitoba resident with a $300 (Canadian dollars) fine for
carrying one egg across the US border into Minnesota.[43] In June 2012, CBP
held two Seattle men for two and a half hours after discovering six Kinder
Surprise eggs in their car upon returning to the US from a trip to Vancouver.
According to one of the men detained, a border guard quoted the potential fine
as US $2,500 per egg.[44]"

~~~
donatj
Like sure, ban the sale, but why the ownership or importation without
intention to sell? That seems to overstep the actual usefulness of the law.
Like I can put toys in candy in my home and presumably if I don’t try to sell
it, it’s legal.

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vichu
Just thinking about how much work and research from organizations like the CDC
put in to preventing another Spanish flu-like pandemic for humans, it seems
shockingly obvious that pandemics would be occurring for other species where
technology and quarantine are not as strictly used. Its only through
observations like this that I've realized how devastating the impact of
contaminated ecosystems must be. I suppose that's why I've needed to check all
those boxes about visiting farms/smuggling produce whenever I go through
customs.

Since this article is specifically about frogs, I can't help but wonder if the
drastic reduction of insect biomass isn't contributing to their decline. With
numbers as drastic as a 75% decline in certain areas[0], it's hard to imagine
frogs/birds/etc. aren't suffering from population decline due to reduced food
availability.

[0] [https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/as-insect-
populat...](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/as-insect-populations-
decline-scientists-are-trying-to-understand-why/)

~~~
randyrand
Also makes you realize how BS the common refrain that “the circle of
life/pyramid is super fragile” is.

Diseases have wiped out huge portions of species for millennia but life
somehow carried on just fine.

~~~
EamonnMR
If we weren't at the top of the house of cards, we'd have nothing to worry
about. But unless you can stomach eating nothing but genetically enhanced
yeast, it might be worth trying to keep some other species down the food chain
around.

------
mirimir
FYI:
[http://science.sciencemag.org/content/363/6434/1459](http://science.sciencemag.org/content/363/6434/1459)

> _Anthropogenic trade and development_ have broken down dispersal barriers,
> facilitating the spread of diseases that threaten Earth’s biodiversity. We
> present a global, quantitative assessment of the amphibian chytridiomycosis
> panzootic, one of the most impactful examples of disease spread, and
> demonstrate its role in the decline of at least 501 amphibian species over
> the past half-century, including 90 presumed extinctions. The effects of
> chytridiomycosis have been greatest in large-bodied, range-restricted
> anurans in wet climates in the Americas and Australia. Declines peaked in
> the 1980s, and only 12% of declined species show signs of recovery, whereas
> 39% are experiencing ongoing decline. There is risk of further
> chytridiomycosis outbreaks in new areas. The chytridiomycosis panzootic
> represents the greatest recorded loss of biodiversity attributable to a
> disease. [emphasis added]

Damn. I mean, I hate those Asian stink bugs, but at least they aren't killing
me.

~~~
scotty79
So many specied affected by single pathogen. I wonder if there was something
like that in history of homo species.

Some virus that wiped all homo species, except homo sapiens that gets just
runny nose for few days because of it.

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citilife
Interesting, I had always been told it was pollution... I used to live next to
a river and we always had tons of frogs. Then after a few years, almost all of
them disappeared. I heard people claim pollution, but we were still getting
our drinking water from the same source, so I had my doubts.

This makes way more sense and I'm surprised I had no idea.

~~~
Lordarminius
Global warming was the scientific consensus a few years ago. It was thought
that increased temperatures and radiation adversely affected amphibian eggs
causing a failure to hatch.

I guess it could be multifactorial

~~~
abalone
User devoply just posted this paper linking climate change to the spread of
this fungus. It’s not just trade and travel.

[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1685858/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1685858/)

~~~
mirimir
> Our analysis shows a significant association between change in local
> climatic variables and the occurrence of chytridiomycosis within this
> region. Specifically, we show that rising temperature is linked to the
> occurrence of chytrid-related disease, consistent with the chytrid-thermal-
> optimum hypothesis. We show that these local variables are driven by general
> circulation patterns, principally the North Atlantic Oscillation. Given that
> B. dendrobatidis is known to be broadly distributed across Europe, there is
> now an urgent need to assess the generality of our finding and determine
> whether climate-driven epidemics may be expected to impact on amphibian
> species across the wider region.

So yes, trade and travel spread the fungus. And increasing temperature
decreases resistance to it. Very succinct: "chytrid-thermal-optimum
hypothesis".

------
chiefalchemist
"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 — probably via the
international trade in pet amphibians — the pathogen reached hundreds of
vulnerable species."

How long will it be before we realize that perhaps the globe wasn't designed
for globalization?

Note: I'm not a Luddite. I'm simply doing the analysis and stating the
obvious.

~~~
bdamm
The globe wasn't designed, and those animals didn't choose immunity. It was
developed via evolution. And evolution will similarly wipe out massive numbers
of species due to global exposure of pathogens. We are in the midst of the
greatest extinction event this world has ever seen. Keep your head down and
may the antigens be in your favor.

~~~
chiefalchemist
That's my point. Evolution was a long, slow, and often isolated process. When
you begin to jet things from one side of the planet to the other you're doing
things that are entirely atypical of evolution.

The point being, any species that developed and survived via evolution is
unfit for speed and breadth of the current human + technology modern version
of "evolution".

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nikofeyn
maybe this is because i am no longer a kid and not spending as much time
outside or due to location, but i can’t remember the last time i saw a frog,
worm, toad, or turtle in the wild.

~~~
ams6110
Toads and turtles are everwhere around my house in the summer (US Midwest).
Hear frogs all night too. I accidentally ran over a turtle with my lawn mower
last summer. Felt pretty bad about it and I really try to watch for them now.

~~~
akimball
In my childhood regions, amphibians and reptiles were at least 4x in the 60s.
They tend to be more tightly clustered now. The clusters are more distant from
each other, and the spaces between more sparsely populated. Not in any danger
of extinction just yet, at least for the common species. Perhaps many minor
species are gone - I wouldn't be able to tell. Just about the only things to
thrive have been feral cats, birds, bats, squirrels, mice, rabbits and deer.
They are an absolute infestation.

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kbutler
I approve of both the general encouragement to use the original headline and
rewriting the headline in this case.

Maybe we could have a general rejection headlines that include the words
"worse than" and "thought"?

The Gray Lady coloring with clickbait. _sigh_

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lelf
Paper (pdf) —
[http://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/363/6434/1459.full...](http://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/363/6434/1459.full.pdf)

------
dukoid
Does anybody know if this is related to the fungus killing Fire Salamanders in
Europe?
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_salamander#Confirmed_host...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_salamander#Confirmed_hosts_of_Batrachochytrium_salamandrivorans)

~~~
jacobolus
From the article:

> _In 2013, researchers discovered that a related fungus was attacking fire
> salamanders in Belgium. Called Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal for
> short), it seemed poised to do to salamanders what Bd has done to frogs._

> _But this time, things are playing out differently._

> _Researchers discovered the outbreak and identified Bsal quickly. They
> immediately began running experiments to understand the threat it posed.
> Thanks to barriers to trade now in place, Bsal has yet to threaten another
> species anywhere._ [...]

------
kylek
I wonder if there is a good way to test for this, and if it affects humans.

Kambo[0] is a medicine extracted from the South American Phyllomedusa
Bicolour[1] tree frog that is used by humans, I believe without any
processing. (As if it weren't dangerous enough already...!). I hope
practitioners (e.g. the IAKP[2] take note) can come up with a way to test
before using it.

[0]
[https://www.erowid.org/experiences/subs/exp_Phyllomedusa_bic...](https://www.erowid.org/experiences/subs/exp_Phyllomedusa_bicolor.shtml)

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phyllomedusa_bicolor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phyllomedusa_bicolor)

[2] [https://iakp.org/](https://iakp.org/)

------
pvaldes
I have an idea. Frogs are used in labs since a long, long time. We know a lot
about their embryology and genetics. They have big eggs with easily accessible
cells and lay plenty of them.

If we can make a transgenic tomato adding genes for frost resistance, we
probably could make a transgenic frog adding korean frog genes for fungus
resistance. Then release then in a safely enclosed area. If both kinds of
frogs keep vanishing at the same pace, then fungus is a symptom and not a
cause (or we did it wrong). If not, we would have discovered a last try to
gain a precious time and save thousands of species in captiviy even if the
zoos are in areas contaminated by the fungus.

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omginternets
Not that this makes it a non-problem, but I recall that endothermic species
are _relatively_ fungus-resistant given that most fungi prefer cooler
temperatures.

I'm wondering if any epidemiologists could weigh in wrt the risk of spread to
humans or other animals.

~~~
abalone
This study explores exactly this question. In short, climate change moderated
the temp of one climate which would normally kill off the fungus, while
amphibians seek cool shelter during the hottest days thus keeping the fungus
alive and also speeding transmission.

Key passages:

 _”In this region, global warming is moderating the naturally severe cool
conditions, and among other consequences, as Harvell et al. (2002) pointed
out, shorter, milder winters are expected to increase the incidence of
disease.“_

 _”...However, this recent warming has not increased the number of days where
the maximum temperatures exceed 28°C, the critical threshold for successful
persistence of B. dendrobatidis. In addition, even if this limit could be
achieved in the area, survival and persistence of the pathogen may occur as a
consequence of the active avoidance of high temperatures by the metamorphs
preferential selection of damp and cool habitats within which to hide.”_

 _”...On the other hand, the sixth climatic factor, relating to the abundance
of mist and dewfall, presents the highest values during May, when the breeding
period of the amphibians takes place. Therefore, as may occur with the
temperature scenario discussed earlier, a value of 100% relative humidity
provided by overnight dewfall and mists during the breeding period could be a
key determinant in facilitating the transmission of fungus...”_ [1]

This is why climate change is so dangerous. We don’t understand how
interconnected and complex ecosystems are to truly predict its effects.

Credit to devoply for posting the paper.

[1]
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1685858/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1685858/)

------
joe5150
a fungus is also responsible for a serious disease killing millions of North
American bats.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-
nose_syndrome](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-nose_syndrome)

~~~
pvaldes
It is still suspicious that many insectivorous are being killed in mass by
fungus epidemies. No rodents, no carnivores... frogs, bats, salamanders...

Are in decline insects eating other insects and spiders? It seems that not.
Maybe not studied really. Less predators would help also.

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swamp40
Would we make an antifungal and spread it throughout the world? Seems like
that could somehow backfire on us.

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devoply
Another leak in the mother-ship we call earth.

[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1685858/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1685858/)

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mjcohen
Hope this doesn't mutate to affect humans.

