Chytridiomycosis is an
infectious disease in
amphibians, caused by the
chytrid Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, a nonhyphal zoosporic
fungus. Chytridiomycosis has been linked to dramatic population
declines or even extinctions of amphibian species in western
North America,
Central America,
South America, eastern
Australia, and
Dominica and
Montserrat in the
Caribbean. Much of the New World is also at risk of the disease arriving within the coming years. The fungus is capable of causing sporadic deaths in some amphibian populations and 100% mortality in others. No effective measure is known for control of the disease in wild populations. Various clinical signs are seen by individuals affected by the disease. A number of options are possible for controlling this disease-causing fungus, though none has proved to be feasible on a large scale. The disease has been proposed as a contributing factor to a global
decline in amphibian populations that apparently has affected about 30% of the amphibian species of the world.