Chytridiomycosis causes amphibian mortality associated with population declines in the rainforests of Australia and Central America

Lee Berger^a,b,c, Rick Speare^a, Peter Daszak^d, D. Earl Green^e, Andrew A. Cunningham^f, C. Louise Goggin^g, Ron Slocombe^g, Mark A. Raganⁱ, Alex D. Hyatt^b, Keith R. McDonald^j, Harry B. Hines^k, Karen R. Lips^l, Gerry Marantelli^m and Helen Parkes^b

^a School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia;
^b Australian Animal Health Laboratory, CSIRO, Ryrie St, Geelong, Victoria 3220, Australia
^d School of Life Sciences, Kingston University, Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey KT1 2EE, UK;
^e Maryland Animal Health Diagnostic Laboratory, College Park, Maryland 20740, USA;
^f Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London NW1 4RY, UK;
^g CSIRO Marine Research, Hobart, Tasmania 7001, Australia
^h Veterinary Clinical Centre, University of Melbourne, Werribee, Victoria 3030, Australia;
ⁱ Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Program in Evolutionary Biology, National Research Council of Canada, Halifax, NS Canada B3H 3ZI
^j Conservation Strategy Branch, Queensland Department of Environment, Atherton, Queensland 4883, Australia;
^k Threatened Species and Ecosystems Unit, Queensland Department of Environment, Albert St, Kenmore, Queensland 4069, Australia;
^l Department of Biology, St. Lawrence University, Canton, New York 13617, USA;
and ^m Amphibian Research Centre, 15 Suvla Gve, Nth Coburg, Victoria 3058, Australia.

Published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science 1998; 95: 9031-9036.

ABSTRACT

Epidermal changes caused by a chytridiomycete fungus (Chytridiomycota; Chytridiales) were found in sick and dead anurans collected from montane rainforests in Queensland (Australia) and Panama during significant population declines. We have also found this new disease associated with morbidity and mortality in wild and captive anurans from additional locations in Australia. This is the first report of parasitism of a vertebrate by a member of the phylum Chytridiomycota. Experimental data support the conclusion that cutaneous chytridiomycosis is a fatal disease of frogs, and we hypothesize that it is the proximate cause of these recent amphibian declines.