Researchers identified a new disease affecting tadpoles that is proving to be a serious danger to populations of frogs across the world.
According to The Guardian, authors of a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found samples of the disease in specimen from countries on three different continents.
The disease apparently comes from a single-cell microbe known as a "protist" and also appeared in climates both hot and mild. But the most worrisome aspect of the disease was how highly infectious it is among frogs.
"Global frog populations are suffering serious declines and infectious disease has been shown to be a significant factor. Our work has revealed a previously unidentified microbial group that infects tadpole livers in frog populations across the globe," study co-author Thomas Richards, a professor at the University of Exeter, said in a press release. "We now need to figure out if this novel microbe - a distant relative of oyster parasites - causes significant disease and could be contributing to the frog population declines."
Overall, amphibians have been in critical danger for several years, The Guardian reported. Since 2008, 42 percent of frog species were declining, while 32 percent were either endangered or extinct.
