Emerging Marine Diseases: Climate Links and Anthropogenic Factors

Authors

C. D. Harvell, Cornell University
K. Kim, University of Maryland - College Park
J. M. Burkholder, North Carolina State University
R. R. Colwell, University of Maryland
P. R. Epstein, Harvard Medical School
D. J. Grimes, University of Southern Mississippi
E. E. Hoffmann, Old Dominion University
E. K. Lipp, University of South Florida
A. D.M.E. Osterhaus, Erasmus University Rotterdam
Robin M. Overstreet, Gulf Coast Research LaboratoryFollow
J. W. Porter, University of Georgia
G. W. Smith, University of South Carolina
G. R. Vasta, University of Maryland

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

9-3-1999

Comments

Published in Science's Compass (September 3, 1999) v.285: 1,505-1,510. Copyright 1999, the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Used by permission. DOI: 10.1126/science.285.5433.1505

Abstract

Mass mortalities due to disease outbreaks have recently affected major taxa in the oceans. For closely monitored groups like corals and marine mammals, reports of the frequency of epidemics and the number of new diseases have increased recently. A dramatic global increase in the severity of coral bleaching in 1997-98 is coincident with high El Niño temperatures. Such climate-mediated, physiological stresses may compromise host resistance and increase frequency of opportunistic diseases. Where documented, new diseases typically have emerged through host or range shifts of known pathogens. Both climate and human activities may have also accelerated global transport of species, bringing together pathogens and previously unexposed host populations.