Amphibian Species are Collapsing in Spain Due to Deadly Virus

Amphibians are suffering from climate change, but they may have more than just changing temperatures on their plates. Scientists have found that two closely related viruses that have been introduced to northern Spain in recent years may have led to the collapse of three different species of amphibian.

"The capacity of these viruses to infect multiple species means that there is the possibility that some host populations may be extirpated due to infection," said Stephen Price, one of the researchers, in a news release. "Pathogens that can exploit more than one host simultaneously are able to persist even when one host drops to low numbers, and eventually zero, because there is another susceptible host available."

In this case, the researchers found that six species in all have suffered from severe disease and mass mortality as a result of the outbreak in the protected area of Picos de Europa National Park. Yet three particular species, the common midwife toad, the common toad, and the alpine newt, have collapsed.

More worrying is the fact that in one instance, the scientists witnessed a snake becoming sick and dying due to the virus after feeding on an infected amphibian. The virus itself belongs to the family Iridoviridae. These viruses have been known to cause disease if fish and reptiles, but are also known for their ability to sicken and kill amphibians in the Americas, Europe, Asia and Australia.

Unfortunately, the species declines seen in this park have shown no sign of rebound. In fact, in some locations, species are all but lost.

"Our work reveals a group of pathogens that seem to have preexisting capacity to infect and evade immunity in multiple diverse and novel hosts, and that are exerting massive impacts on host communities," write the researchers.

The findings are published in the journal Current Biology.