Frog legs spreading pathogen

WASHINGTON, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- A worldwide trade in frog legs may be spreading pathogens deadly to amphibians, scientists in Washington said.

Amphibians are declining rapidly worldwide, with more than one-third of the estimated 6,000 amphibian species threatened with extinction, scientists at the Smithsonian Institution said in a release.

Many amphibians are vulnerable to Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, also known as amphibian chytrid. The pathogen could spread unchecked in the $40-million-per-year culinary trade of frog legs, most of which are consumed in France, Belgium and the United States, Smithsonian biologist Brian Gratwicke said.

Countries such as Indonesia, which export about 45 percent of all frog legs worldwide, make little or no effort to monitor the frogs for disease pathogens, Gratwicke said.

"Any trade in live frogs or fresh, un-skinned frog legs presents a substantial risk of the spread of amphibian chytrid," Gratwicke said, recommending nations implement trade policies to mitigate the risk of disease among amphibians.