A novel disease is killing endangered reptiles

A novel disease is killing endangered reptiles


It’s not rare to hear about the discovery of another novel infectious disease. But when the disease is fatal to an endangered species, the level of alert ticks up.

Veterinary researchers at the University of Florida have discovered a bacterial organism associated with a fatal disease in gopher tortoises. The novel microbe appears closely related to another recently discovered in Grand Cayman iguanas that were dying suddenly despite treatment.

Gopher tortoises are already endangered from habitat loss. They’re crucial to their native ecology of the southeast United States because their burrows shelter over 350 other local creatures.

Researchers are trying to determine where the bacteria originated and whether other factors are involved in this serious disease.

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