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Successful elimination of a lethal wildlife infectious disease in nature

Bosch, J; Sanchez-Tomé, E; Fernández-Loras, A; Oliver, JA; Fisher, MC; Garner, TWJ; (2015) Successful elimination of a lethal wildlife infectious disease in nature. Biology Letters , 11 (11) , Article 20150874. 10.1098/rsbl.2015.0874. Green open access

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Abstract

Methods to mitigate the impacts of emerging infectious diseases affecting wildlife are urgently needed to combat loss of biodiversity. However, the successful mitigation of wildlife pathogens in situ has rarely occurred. Indeed, most strategies for combating wildlife diseases remain theoretical, despite the wealth of information available for combating infections in livestock and crops. Here, we report the outcome of a 5-year effort to eliminate infection with Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis affecting an island system with a single amphibian host. Our initial efforts to eliminate infection in the larval reservoir using a direct application of an antifungal were successful ex situ but infection returned to previous levels when tadpoles with cleared infections were returned to their natal sites. We subsequently combined antifungal treatment of tadpoles with environmental chemical disinfection. Infection at four of the five pools where infection had previously been recorded was eradicated, and remained so for 2 years post-application

Type: Article
Title: Successful elimination of a lethal wildlife infectious disease in nature
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2015.0874
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2015.0874
Language: English
Additional information: Copyright © 2015 The Author(s). Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences > Genetics, Evolution and Environment
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1473674
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