nes spread along the Australian coast at approximately 10,000 kilometers a year, while a mid-1980s bacterial infection to long-spined urchins ripped through the Caribbean at 3,000 to 4,8000 kilometers a year. By comparison, birds in North America spread West Nile virus across the continent at about 1,000 kilometers a year. The findings, the Frontiers authors write, "suggest that pathogens may pose a particularly severe problem in the ocean." The Trends paper ("Does terrestrial epidemiology apply to marine systems?" by Hamish McCallum of Australia's University of Queensland, Harvell and four colleagues) explains the difficulties in controlling ocean disease using land-bound methods.

Even where limited inoculation is possible -- by including antibiotics in food for aquaculture fish, for example -- the treatment is problematic. "Spillover of antibiotics from fish pens can lead to low doses of antibiotic being delivered to the wider marine ecosystem, with resulting selection for antibiotic resistance" among disease pathogens, the researchers wrote.

Rather, the marine scientists suggest in the Frontiers article, prevention might be the best medicine. "The most practical immediate remediation for many marine communities is to reduce pathogen inputs (especially from land) and synergistic stressors, such as warm temperatures and eutrophic waters," they write. They add: "Reducing such inputs requires knowing the source of new marine pathogens -- research should focus on identifying sources and reducing inputs while at the same time developing control measures."

That is precisely the prescription marine scientists have written for the their global assessment of coral disease. Preliminary surveys are already underway, with full cooperation of local marine scientists, at the four sites they will target as Centers of Excellence: Australia, the Philippines, Mexico and the western Pacific island nation of Palau. In addition to rese
'"/>

Contact: Roger Segelken
hrs2@cornell.edu
607-255-9736
Cornell University News Service
8-Nov-2004

Page: 1 2 3
Related biology news :

1. National Ecological Observatory Network featured at ESA/SER Joint International Conference
2. International team to honor 30th anniversary of deep-sea vent discovery in Galpagos
3. 2nd International EuroFIR Congress
4. Clinical trial data regarding NKTR-061 will be presented at ATS International Conference
5. Smithsonian hosts Polar Science Symposium to celebrate International Polar Year 2007-2008
6. Eduardo Slatopolsky honored with 2007 ISN Amgen International Prize
7. 4th International Conference on Ethical Issues in Biomedical Engineering
8. International risk research strategy and funding needed for nanotech safety
9. Pezcoller Foundation-AACR International Award for Cancer Research recognizes Mina J. Bissell
10. International Astronautical Federation joins project to protect World Heritage sites
11. International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation 27th Annual Meeting and Scientific Sessions