Search

The disease chytridiomycosis, caused by the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), has caused dramatic amphibian population declines and extinctions in Australia, Central and North America, and Europe. Bd is associated with >200 species extinctions of amphibians, but not all species that become infected are susceptible to the disease. Specifically, Bd has rapidly emerged in some areas of the world, such as in Australia, USA, and throughout Central and South America, causing population and species collapse. The mechanism behind the rapid global emergence of the disease is poorly understood, in part due to an incomplete picture of the global distribution of Bd. At present, there is a considerable amount of geographic bias in survey effort for Bd, with Asia being the most neglected continent. To date, Bd surveys have been published for few Asian countries, and infected amphibians have been reported only from Indonesia, South Korea, China and Japan. Thus far, there have been no substantiated reports of enigmatic or suspected disease-caused population declines of the kind that has been attributed to Bd in other areas. In order to gain a more detailed picture of the distribution of Bd in Asia, we undertook a widespread, opportunistic survey of over 3,000 amphibians for Bd throughout Asia and adjoining Papua New Guinea. Survey sites spanned 15 countries, approximately 36° latitude, 111° longitude, and over 2000 m in elevation. Bd prevalence was very low throughout our survey area (2.35% overall) and infected animals were not clumped as would be expected in epizootic events. This suggests that Bd is either newly emerging in Asia, endemic at low prevalence, or that some other ecological factor is preventing Bd from fully invading Asian amphibians. The current observed pattern in Asia differs from that in many other parts of the world.

Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) is a fungus recognised as one of the causes of global amphibian population declines. To assess its occurrence, we conducted PCR diagnostic assays of 147 swab samples, from 13 species of frogs from Mount Gede Pangrango National Park, Indonesia. Four swab samples, from Rhacophorus javanus, Rana chalconota, Leptobrachium hasseltii and Limnonectes microdiscus, were positive for Bd and had low to moderate levels of infection. The sample from L. hasseltii was from a tadpole with mouthpart deformities and infection was confirmed by histology and immunohistochemistry. An additional sample from Leptophryne cruentata showed a very low level of infection (< or = 1 zoospore equivalent). This is the first record of Bd in Indonesia and in Southeast Asia, dramatically extending the global distribution of Bd, with important consequences for international amphibian disease control, conservation and trade. Consistent with declines in amphibian populations caused by Bd in other parts of the world, evidence exists for the decline and possible extirpation of amphibian populations at high elevations and some decline with recovery of populations at lower elevations on this mountain. Therefore, it is essential to manage Bd in Indonesia where it is likely to be threatening amphibian populations. This will require a national strategy to mitigate the spread of Bd in Indonesia and neighboring countries as well as the impact of that spread. It is also important to collect information on the extent of the impact of Bd on frog populations in Indonesia.