The frog and the parasite.
This is not a fable title, but the subject of a very serious scientific study published on September 20 in the journal
Environmental Research Letters
.
The authors, affiliated with the University of California (UC Davis), show the existence of a link between the extinction of dozens of species of amphibians in Central America and the resurgence of malaria transmitted by mosquitoes within of the human population.
The linking of these two phenomena illustrates the close interdependence between the balance of natural ecosystems and the spread of infectious diseases.
Demonstrating this type of correlation is not easy.
"Studying the impact of declining amphibian populations on real-life malaria incidence is challenging
," the study authors point out, because the chain of events typically occurs over decades and in large spaces.
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