Chytridiomycosis cured by Chloramphenicol

Permalink: Chytridiomycosis cured by Chloramphenicol

Good news for frogs!

As some may be aware, Chytridiomycosis has been devastating amphibian populations around the world for over 25 years now, and is believed a key factor in the extinction of as many as a third of amphibian species - 120 - during this time.

However, scientists in New Zealand have found that a common and inexpensive drug - Chloramphenicol - can be used to completely cure affected frogs.

The strange thing is that Chytridiomycosis is a fungal disease, yet Chloramphenicol is an antibiotic.

Still, at least now a cure has been found, an effective development for distributing and applying it can be researched.

Due to known side-effects in humans, we’re unlikely to see mass spraying of affected areas, though considering humanities past cock-ups in this area, probably a good thing.

Frog killer fungus ‘breakthrough’

New Zealand scientists have found what appears to be a cure for the disease that is responsible for wiping out many of the world’s frog populations.

Chloramphenicol, currently used as an eye ointment for humans, may be a lifesaver for the amphibians, they say.

The researchers found frogs bathed in the solution became resistant to the killer disease, chytridiomycosis.

Fearful that chytridiomycosis might wipe out New Zealand’s critically endangered Archey’s frog (Leiopelma archeyi), the researchers have been hunting for a compound that would kill off the disease’s trigger, the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis.

They tested the chloramphenicol candidate on two species introduced to New Zealand from Australia: the brown tree frog (Litoria ewingii) and the southern bell frog (L. raniformis).

“We found that we could cure them completely of chytrids,” said Phil Bishop from the University of Otago.

“And even when they were really sick in the control group, we managed to bring them back almost from the dead.”

“You could put them on their back and they just wouldn’t right themselves, they would just lie there. You could then treat them with chloramphenicol and they would come right,” Dr Bishop explained.

Frog killer chytridiomycosis - airborne?

Permalink: Frog killer chytridiomycosis - airborne?

It’s been no secret that for the past few years - even decades - amphibians around the world have been in serious decline.

Facing a doubly whammy of habitat destruction on a huge scale, coupled with a killer disease ravaging populations globally, it really is a serious situation for this entire animal group.

The disease itself - chytridiomycosis - has already been identified and continues to be studied.

However, disturbing news reported today is that the infection may not simply be water-borne - but may also disperse via fungal spores in the air:

A fungus that is devastating amphibian populations around the world is a relatively new disease that is spreading rapidly, rather than an old disease that has recently become more virulent, according to research on frogs in California’s Sierra Nevada.

Worse, not only is the fungus being spread by infected water, it may also be transmitted in the form of spores carried on the wind or birds’ feathers, for example, a genetic analysis of the Californian frogs suggests. This would help to explain outbreaks of the disease, called chytridiomycosis, in remote, inaccessible habitats like the Sierra Nevada lakes.

It’s a disturbing kicker of a revelation - and all the more reason why we should look to especially protect amphibians where possible against this killer disease.