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Imported Bait Salamanders (Waterdogs) May Have Introduced Strain of Virus
That Is Killing Frogs Around The World to Arizona
Based on article by Sherrie Buzby/The Arizona Republic, 8/28/04
The mystery of worldwide, mass frog die-offs for years has made scientists
jumpy, and none more so than Arizona State University ecologist and evolutionary
biologist James Collins. Collins has written extensively, most recently in the
June issue of Natural History magazine, about the widely studied phenomenon of
frog species dying off in nations around the globe. Collins, 57, thinks the same
sort of virus that has been killing frogs has come to Arizona and is slaying
salamanders, commonly called waterdogs. He says salamanders used for bait and
imported into Arizona from Midwest ranches and farms may be spreading the virus.
He and colleagues fear that the same factors that cause the deaths and even the
extinction of amphibian species worldwide could afflict livestock, birds, deer
and other wildlife.
Most of the salamander deaths that Collins has studied have been seen in streams
and cattle tanks in the San Rafael Valley, near Sierra Vista in southern
Arizona." With this virus we see how introducing a non-native species can cause
the sort of disease that can bring about an extinction," Collins said. "Just
like Europeans brought smallpox to Native Americans and birds are bringing
West Nile virus to Arizona, these salamanders may be bringing in a very
dangerous virus." Arizona Game and Fish Department officials have been taking
Collins' research "very seriously" for years, department herpetologist Michael
Sredl said. He said the department has made it illegal for fishermen to use
salamanders as bait in the southern Arizona area that Collins has
studied."Banning waterdogs brought in from outside Arizona altogether is one
thing that could be considered in the future," Sredl said.
Collins said his evidence comes from the genetic analysis of an emerging virus
that has been implicated as a cause of infectious disease in amphibian
populations in the western United States.He said he and ASU colleagues James
Jancovich, Elizabeth Davidson and Bertram Jacobs have evidence of new amphibian
viruses in Arizona and Colorado that are identical, indicating a recently
emerged or introduced strain. The strain closely matches viruses isolated from
imported salamanders found in Valley bait shops, indicating a possible source
for the virus' introduction.
The genetic study indicates that the virus may have been transmitted by infected
salamanders being introduced to uncontaminated environments by fishermen and
interstate bait wholesalers.
The salamander virus that Collins and his team discovered is related to another
virus strain that is endemic in frog populations. But preliminary analysis by
the team has found that the salamander-killing virus is even closer to a virus
found in sport fish, which the researchers suspect resulted when the virus
jumped from frogs to fish. The salamander virus, however, is distinct from
either of these and may be a recent development because of its lack of genetic
diversity, Collins said. "The basic story, based on the molecular analysis, is
that the virus has a very recent history in some places in the West and it is a
history that suggests in its patterns that the viruses have been moved around in
less than traditional ways," Collins said. "Bait is one of the ways it is
probably getting around."
Craig Schultz, owner of three Waterdog Willy's bait shops in the Valley, said he
has doubts that the bait is spreading the virus. "Waterdogs do carry lots of
viruses and diseases and so do other bait fish being imported," Schultz said.
"But as far as putting a finger on these salamanders spreading that virus, I
don't know. Like, my kid went to school and got a cold and I have a cold and so
it came from school. Proving that is tough. I'd like to wait and hear more."
But a national authority on the question of the dying amphibians thinks that
Collins' research may be of "immense importance. "Peter Daszak, director of the
Consortium for Conservation Medicine at Wildlife Trust, a non-profit
organization in New York, has been following Collins' work with interest. "We've
known for a long time about chemical pollution, but here is another type of
pollution - spreading germs around by moving animal species around," Daszak
said. "What (Collins') group has may become a classic case of virus pollution."
Source: Herpdigest. Volume 4, Issue 52. www.herpdigest.org
That Is Killing Frogs Around The World to Arizona
Based on article by Sherrie Buzby/The Arizona Republic, 8/28/04
The mystery of worldwide, mass frog die-offs for years has made scientists
jumpy, and none more so than Arizona State University ecologist and evolutionary
biologist James Collins. Collins has written extensively, most recently in the
June issue of Natural History magazine, about the widely studied phenomenon of
frog species dying off in nations around the globe. Collins, 57, thinks the same
sort of virus that has been killing frogs has come to Arizona and is slaying
salamanders, commonly called waterdogs. He says salamanders used for bait and
imported into Arizona from Midwest ranches and farms may be spreading the virus.
He and colleagues fear that the same factors that cause the deaths and even the
extinction of amphibian species worldwide could afflict livestock, birds, deer
and other wildlife.
Most of the salamander deaths that Collins has studied have been seen in streams
and cattle tanks in the San Rafael Valley, near Sierra Vista in southern
Arizona." With this virus we see how introducing a non-native species can cause
the sort of disease that can bring about an extinction," Collins said. "Just
like Europeans brought smallpox to Native Americans and birds are bringing
West Nile virus to Arizona, these salamanders may be bringing in a very
dangerous virus." Arizona Game and Fish Department officials have been taking
Collins' research "very seriously" for years, department herpetologist Michael
Sredl said. He said the department has made it illegal for fishermen to use
salamanders as bait in the southern Arizona area that Collins has
studied."Banning waterdogs brought in from outside Arizona altogether is one
thing that could be considered in the future," Sredl said.
Collins said his evidence comes from the genetic analysis of an emerging virus
that has been implicated as a cause of infectious disease in amphibian
populations in the western United States.He said he and ASU colleagues James
Jancovich, Elizabeth Davidson and Bertram Jacobs have evidence of new amphibian
viruses in Arizona and Colorado that are identical, indicating a recently
emerged or introduced strain. The strain closely matches viruses isolated from
imported salamanders found in Valley bait shops, indicating a possible source
for the virus' introduction.
The genetic study indicates that the virus may have been transmitted by infected
salamanders being introduced to uncontaminated environments by fishermen and
interstate bait wholesalers.
The salamander virus that Collins and his team discovered is related to another
virus strain that is endemic in frog populations. But preliminary analysis by
the team has found that the salamander-killing virus is even closer to a virus
found in sport fish, which the researchers suspect resulted when the virus
jumped from frogs to fish. The salamander virus, however, is distinct from
either of these and may be a recent development because of its lack of genetic
diversity, Collins said. "The basic story, based on the molecular analysis, is
that the virus has a very recent history in some places in the West and it is a
history that suggests in its patterns that the viruses have been moved around in
less than traditional ways," Collins said. "Bait is one of the ways it is
probably getting around."
Craig Schultz, owner of three Waterdog Willy's bait shops in the Valley, said he
has doubts that the bait is spreading the virus. "Waterdogs do carry lots of
viruses and diseases and so do other bait fish being imported," Schultz said.
"But as far as putting a finger on these salamanders spreading that virus, I
don't know. Like, my kid went to school and got a cold and I have a cold and so
it came from school. Proving that is tough. I'd like to wait and hear more."
But a national authority on the question of the dying amphibians thinks that
Collins' research may be of "immense importance. "Peter Daszak, director of the
Consortium for Conservation Medicine at Wildlife Trust, a non-profit
organization in New York, has been following Collins' work with interest. "We've
known for a long time about chemical pollution, but here is another type of
pollution - spreading germs around by moving animal species around," Daszak
said. "What (Collins') group has may become a classic case of virus pollution."
Source: Herpdigest. Volume 4, Issue 52. www.herpdigest.org