Posted by:
webwheeler
at Sun May 30 10:28:34 2010 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by webwheeler ]
"In the 1930s, African frogs were exported for use in human pregnancy tests and it is suggested they may have carried a fungal disease with them."
"In the 1930s and 40s, live female Xenopus frogs were used widely in Europe, Australasia and north America in pregnancy testing.
A sample of the woman's urine was injected under the frog's skin; if the woman was pregnant, a hormone in her urine caused the frog to ovulate.
Alternative tests involved male frogs and toads, which produced sperm in response to the human hormone gonadotrophin.
Thousands of Xenopus were exported from Africa each year, potentially carrying Batrachochytrium with them, and - perhaps through occasional escapes - delivering it to the habitats of other continents, where it could inflict major damage on amphibian species that were more vulnerable."
Source: Pregnancy test link to frog fall
Emphasis in bold is mine. To spread the Chytrid Fungus it is not necessary for an actual frog to escape. Untreated waste water from the frog's enclosure can just as easily cause a Chytrid Fungus outbreak in local watersheds. The above evidence strongly suggests that the pet trade was NOT the primary vector for the spread of Chytrid Fungus.
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