Update on amphibian chytridiomycosis

[Extract] Chytridiomycosis is the most significant disease to affect vertebrate biodiversity and has caused the decline and extinction of several hundred amphibian species globally (Skerratt et al. 2007). In Australia it has caused the extinction of at least four species, probably seven, and the dramatic decline of at least ten more (Berger et al. 2009). Many persisting species remain at lower abundance and smaller distributions than pre-disease, some are continuing to decline and significant mortality from chytridiomycosis is ongoing even decades after introduction. Some critically endangered species now have very small populations and need intervention to become secure. Naive areas containing endemic frogs are at risk of introduction