Japan's frogs fall prey to deadly fungus
January 12 2007 at 04:02PM
Tokyo - More than a dozen frogs have died in Japan's first confirmed case of a fungal infection linked to sharp reductions in amphibian numbers in other parts of the world, news reports said Friday.
Tests confirmed that the deaths of 14 frogs of several kinds in Tokyo late last year were caused by the chytrid fungus, national daily Asahi reported. The fungus has been linked to the extinction of amphibians from Australia to Costa Rica.
It is the first time in Japan that the chytrid fungus has been confirmed in frogs, Kyodo News agency said.
Yumi Une, assistant professor of Azabu University in Kanagawa, just west of Tokyo who conducted the tests, was quoted as saying by Kyodo that owners of pet frogs should watch for red spots on the
animals' skin and any abnormalities on their skin surface as possible signs of infection.
'The frogs die of dehydration in the water'
Une was not immediately available for comment Friday.
Kyodo quoted the professor as saying that the frogs, which originated in South America and are believed to have been raised in Japan, died after another foreign frog species was brought into the
same building. The reports did not say where the frogs were being kept.
The discovery prompted organizations including the World Wide Fund for Nature Japan and the Japanese Society of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine to jointly declare "a state of emergency" Saturday to call
on frog owners to consult veterinarians for treatment, the reports said.
The parasitic skin fungus has a more than 90 percent likelihood of killing an amphibian, but is harmless to other species including human beings.
The chytrid fungus kills the frogs by growing on their skin, making it hard for them to use their pores and regulate water intake. The frogs die of dehydration in the water.
Frogs and many other amphibians are acutely sensitive to changes in environmental temperature and humidity as they can not maintain a steady internal temperature to the same extent as birds and mammals.
It is believed to be a major cause of the dramatic reduction of the number of amphibians in many parts of the world. - Sapa-AP
- Edited by pippa on 20.01.2007, 17:36 -
- Edited by pippa on 20.01.2007, 17:37 -
