1 Nov, 2014 @ 15:00
1 min read

Killer disease is wiping out Spain’s amphibians

A NEW deadly disease with a ‘high kill-rate’ is wiping out amphibians across Spain.

Swarms of frogs, toads and newts have been killed by Ranavirus in northern Spain and the disease is now heading south.

A lower number of amphibians could spark an increase in the numbers of spiders causing Spain to become overrun by eight-legged arachnids.

University College London’s Dr Stephen Price – studying the disease in the Picos de Europa National Park since the first outbreak in 2005 – said all amphibian species are ‘highly susceptible’ to it.

Dr Price said: “Until the outbreaks, we didn’t really know about this lineage of the virus.

“We’ve seen major population collapses in three species: the common midwife toad, the common toad and the alpine newt.

“It is a pretty graphic disease with a high kill-rate. We’ve shown these viruses have caused simultaneous declines in several species of host.”

Dr Price added that a decline in the number of toads and frogs could impact upon Spain’s wider ecosystems with animals such as spiders benefiting from a lower number of natural predators.

The virus has also been discovered in other parts of Europe as well as in China.

Rob Horgan

DO YOU HAVE NEWS FOR US at Spain’s most popular English newspaper - the Olive Press? Contact us now via email: newsdesk@theolivepress.es or call 951 273 575. To contact the newsdesk out of regular office hours please call +34 665 798 618.

2 Comments

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Previous Story

Multi-million Gibraltarian home scoops property award

Next Story

British government reject Gibraltar’s request for greater military presence

Latest from National News

Go toTop

More From The Olive Press