Full report and sections available on this CD

Item	Pages	Size (format)
Complete report	213	2.72Mb (pdf)
Executive Summary and Table of Contents	4	11kb (pdf)
Report on Scope Items (does not include attachments)	22	1.03Mb (pdf)
Attachment 1: Composition of Steering Committee	3	9kb (pdf)
Attachment 2: Compendium of Getting the Jump! on Amphibian Disease	115	1.12Mb (pdf)
Attachment 3: Media reports on communicable diseases of amphibians and management strategies	7	230kb (pdf)
Attachment 4: Summary of formidable infectious diseases of amphibians	8	33kb (pdf)
Attachment 5: Recommendations from Workshop	17	47kb (pdf)
Attachment 6: Quarantine protocols	13	57kb (pdf)
Attachment 7: Nomination submitted to Endangered Species Committee to have chytridiomycosis listed as a key threatening process	25	278kb (pdf)

The following documents contain useful data on amphibian diseases.

• Berger L, Speare R, Kent A. Diagnosis of chytridiomycosis in amphibians by histologic examination. WWW file http://www.jcu.edu.au/school/phtm/PHTM/frogs/histo/chhisto.htm. 20 November 1999. (pdf 184kb)

• Berger L, Speare R, Hyatt A. Chytrid fungi and amphibian declines: Overview, implications and future directions. Declines and Disappearances of Australian Frogs. Ed. A. Campbell. Environment Australia: Canberra. 1999:23-33. (pdf 573kb)

• Berger L, Speare R, Daszak P, Green DE, Cunningham AA, Goggin CL, Slocombe R, Ragan MA, Hyatt AH, McDonald KR, Hines HB, Lips KR, Marantelli G, Parkes H. Chytridiomycosis causes amphibian mortality associated with population declines in the rain forests of Australia and Central America. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, USA 1998;95: 9031-9036. (pdf 505kb)

• Campbell A. (Ed) Declines and Disappearances of Australian Frogs. Environment Australia: Canberra. 1999 (pdf 8.1Mb)

• Daszak P, Berger L, Cunningham AA, Hyatt AD, Green DE, Speare R. Emerging infectious diseases and amphibian population declines. Emerging Infectious Diseases 1999;5:735-748. (pdf 573kb)

• Daszak P, Cunningham AA, Hyatt AD. Emerging Infectious Diseases of Wildlife - Threats to biodiversity and human health. Science 2000;287: 443-449. (pdf 211kb)

• Movie of the amphibian chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, in culture made by Lee Berger.
  This movie shows the amphibian chytrid fungus under the compound light microscope and was made in 1999 by Lee Berger at the CSIRO Australian Animal Health Laboratory. The two stages of B. dendrobatidis, the zoospore and the zoosporangium, are seen in water on a microscope slide. The multiple, small motile bodies are the zoospores, the infective stage of Batrachochytrium. The larger spherical bodies that do not move are the zoosporangia. Zoospores develop in the zoosporangia and then escape into the water. (avi 3.35Mb)

Amphibian Disease Pages

• Getting the Jump! on Amphibian Disease Conference and Workshop
  Link to website that has program from the conference and workshop, abstracts, some Powerpoint presentations, recommendations from Workshop, summary of formidable infectious diseases of amphibians, and quarantine protocols. URL: http://www.jcu.edu.au/school/phtm/PHTM/frogs/gjoad.htm

  Amphibian Diseases Home Page

  Link to website with latest data on chytridiomycosis in Australia and globally, protocols, specimen collection, publications on chytridiomycosis. URL: http://www.jcu.edu.au/school/phtm/PHTM/frogs/ampdis.htm

  IRCEB Project

  The Integrated Research Challenges in Evolutionary Biology (IRCEB) project is a collaborative project between scientists in USA and Australia to investigate the ecological impact of chytridiomycosis and ranaviral disease. It is funded by the National Science Foundation (USA). URL: http://lifesciences.asu.edu/irceb/amphibians/.

Community frog groups involved in disease research

• Frog Decline Reversal Project
  A community generated project based in Cairns with the aim of assisting frogs to overcome the impact of infectious and other diseases. The Cairns Frog Hospital is a key component of this strategy, and plays an important role in collecting ill and dead frogs to assist in disease investigations. The project is funded entirely by community and business donations. URL: http://www.fdrproject.org.

  Victorian Frog Group

  This community group plays a key role in disease management by collecting northern frogs sent to Victoria in market produce, and devising strategies to lessen the risks of their spreading northern pathogens in Victoria. The group is closely affiliated with the Amphibian Research Centre (ARC). ARC plays a key role in disease research by working in active collaboration with the AAHL, universities and government bodies. URL = http://www.frogs.org.au/.

  Alcoa Frog WAtch.

  This is the largest, most sophisticated community-based amphibian monitoring group in Australia. Alcoa Frog WAtch is organised from the Western Australian Museum and involves thousands of volunteers in Western Australia. The group has played a very important role in monitoring for disease, particularly chytridiomycosis in Western Australia. URL: http://www.museum.wa.gov.au/frogwatch/.

  Frog and Tadpole Study Group of New South Wales

  FATS Group plays a role in amphibian disease control by collecting and quarantining frogs sent to Sydney and other areas in NSW in agricultural produce, and submitting ill and dead amphibians to the Amphibian Diseases Network. URL: http://members.xoom.com/frog_group/.

  Queensland Frog Society

  The society's main aims are to encourage and foster an interest in frogs, to provide expert assistance and education for newcomers and undertake a continuous survey of the local native species to determine their relative abundance and distribution. URL: http://www.qldfrogs.asn.au/.

  Declining Amphibian Population Task Force

  The DAPTF is a global network of biologists and conservationists which is concerned with the issue of declining amphibian populations. URL: http://www.open.ac.uk/daptf/.

Government Sites on Threatened Amphibians

• Environment Australia
  Follow the link to the declining amphibians site. The Frog Action and Recovery Plans for Australia can be found here.

  Queensland Parks and Wildlife Threatened Amphibians

  Follow links to declining amphibians. All threatened amphibians in Queensland have comprehensive profiles available.

  New South Wales Threatened Species

  Victoria: Natural Resources and Environment

  South Australia Environmental Protection Agency

  Unfortunately, no sites are functional at time of printing (7 Feb 2001)

  Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service Threatened Species

  Australian Capital Territory Threatened Species

  Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife Commission

  Western Australia: Department of Conservation and Land Management

  Threatened Species Network

Major sponsors were the NHT and WWF. The academic institutions contributed staff time and resources.

• National Heritage Trust
• World Wide Fund for Nature Australia
• Rainforest Cooperative Research Centre
• School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, James Cook University

When citing this document, please use: "Speare R and Steering Committee of Getting the Jump on Amphibian Disease. Developing management strategies to control amphibian diseases: Decreasing the risks due to communicable diseases. School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, James Cook University: Townsville. 2001."

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