Emerging fungal threats to animal, plant and ecosystem health

Author: Fisher, M.C.; Henk, D.A.; Briggs, C.J.; Brownstein, J.S.; Madoff, L.C.; McCraw, S.L.; Gurr, S.J.

Description: The past two decades have seen an increasing number of virulent infectious diseases in natural populations and managed landscapes. In both animals and plants, an unprecedented number of fungal and fungal-like diseases have recently caused some of the most severe die-offs and extinctions ever witnessed in wild species, and are jeopardizing food security. Human activity is intensifying fungal disease dispersal by modifying natural environments and thus creating new opportunities for evolution. We argue that nascent fungal infections will cause increasing attrition of biodiversity, with wider implications for human and ecosystem health, unless steps are taken to tighten biosecurity worldwide.

Subject headings: Animals; Communicable Diseases, Emerging/epidemiology/microbiology/veterinary; Ecosystem; Extinction, Biological; Food Supply; Fungi/classification/genetics/isolation & purification/pathogenicity; Humans; Mycoses/epidemiology/microbiology/veterinary; Plants/microbiology; Virulence/genetics

Publication year: 2012

Journal or book title: Nature

Volume: 484

Issue: 7393

Pages: 186-194

Find the full text : https://www.nature.com/articles/nature10947

Find more like this one (cited by): https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cites=12201411484657076076&as_sdt=1000005&sciodt=0,16&hl=en

Type: Journal Article

Serial number: 2168