Chytridiomycosis

Chytridiomycosis is a disease that can kill amphibians, for example frogs. A fungus causes it. The chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis causes the disease. Chytridiomycosis has caused more loss of biodiversity on Earth than any other disease that humans have seen. Chytridiomycosis one reason why there are fewer amphibians on Earth than there were. It has already killed more than 200 species. The fungus has decreased the amphibian population by 30% worldwide. Many species are now extinct because they died of chytridiomycosis. In some species, only a few animals die, but in other species, they all die. This is called 100% mortality. In some species, the frog gets sick but does not die. This frog can carry the fungus to new places where other frogs catch the fungus and die.

A chytrid-infected frog. Some sick frogs cannot pull themselves right-side-up if they are upside down.

The animals can catch it from each other. The fungus can also live in and spread in water. The fungus goes into the frog's skin. It lives in the part of the skin with the most of the protein keratin. The sick frogs stop eating and look and act very tired and weak. Then parts of their skins turn gray and fall off. Some frogs turn red, shake and cannot stop, or cannot turn themselves right-side-up when they are upside down in the water.

People have seen chytridiomycosis fungus all over the world, from sea level to 5,348 meters above sea level in the Andes Mountains.

Other websites

• Article in National Geographic Magazine, April 2009 Archived 2017-10-28 at the Wayback Machine
• Wildlife Trade and Global Disease Emergence
• Main preventative management strategies for the Chytrid fungus Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine
• Amphibian chytridiomycosis at Amphibian Diseases Home Page Archived 2007-02-16 at the Wayback Machine
• 'Amphibian Ark' aims to save frogs from fungus Archived 2008-05-10 at the Wayback Machine