Just when scientists thought the frogs of Madagascar were spared from the deadly chytrid fungus, signs of the pestilence that has wiped out entire amphibian species has reared its ugly head.
In a study released Thursday, researchers from the Braunschweig University of Technology in Germany found several species of Madagascar frogs contained the chytrid fungus, according to National Geographic.
If left untreated, the fungus could sicken and wipe out hundreds of frogs, similar to what happened in a Panamanian forest that saw 30 amphibian species killed by chytrid in one year alone.
Samples from over 4,150 amphibians were collected and tested for chyritd between 2005 and 2014 for the study published in the journal Scientific Reports. Lead researcher Molly Bletz, from the university, and her colleagues learned the fungus was present in Madagascar frogs since at least 2010.
This isn't the first time chytrid has been linked to Madagascar, which has scores of rare frog species, 99 percent of which are not found anywhere else on earth. A 2014 study found the fungus on frogs sent from the African island nation to the U.S. to be sold as pets, according to National Geographic.
But researchers at the time could not determine if the frogs were infected in Madagascar or on their way to the U.S.
Today, scientists still don't know how the fungus ended up on the island. Yet researchers did point out a silver lining- no sick frogs have been found yet.
"It could mean we just caught it very early," Bletz said, according to National Geographic.
Bletz also said the chytrid strain they found may not be a lethal one. Experts stressed the importance of finding out how the fungus was introduced to the island, which holds 7 percent of the world's amphibian species, to prevent it from happening again.
"Because next time, it could be a strain that's supervirulent," Jonathan Kolby, a researcher at Queensland's James Madison University who was not part of the study, told National Geographic.
Wildlife experts are now scrambling to find a way to contain the fungus, including one Bletz is developing involving the use of frog skin bacteria to block the fungus.
