A ProMED-mail post
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International Society for Infectious Diseases
Date: Fri 2 Apr 2010
Source: The University of Hawaii [edited]
An outbreak of a disease called montipora white syndrome (MWS) was
found in Kaneohe Bay, O'ahu within the last month prompting an
interagency response team composed of scientists and students to
document the extent, spread, and potential causes of the disease.
Members of the investigative team included scientists from the
University of Hawaii at Manoa's Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology
(HIMB), USGS National Wildlife Health Center and Bishop Museum.
Corals are the very foundation of our coral reef ecosystem and are
under threat from overfishing, land-based pollution, and emerging
coral diseases. Coral diseases have devastated the reefs of the
Florida Keys, and MWS affects a prominent coral species (red rice
coral or _Montipora capitata_) on Hawaii reefs and rapidly kills
colonies in weeks. The disease was originally discovered by Bob
Tangaro, a boat driver at HIMB, who notified coral disease researcher
Dr Greta Aeby of his grisly discovery. Mr Tangaro is a member of the
Eyes of the Reef Reporting Network, a program that trains community
members to identify threats to Hawaii's reef including coral disease.
The investigative team discovered that over a 100 colonies of red rice
coral have been killed by MWS. Clusters of diseased corals were found
on reefs throughout Kaneohe Bay but the disease appears most prominent
is South Kaneohe Bay. The cause of the disease is unclear, and
laboratory studies are underway at HIMB and USGS to determine this.
Coral diseases in Hawaii have been studied by HIMB and USGS since
2001, and these research groups have documented 17 different diseases
that occur at fairly low levels; however, this recent outbreak appears
particularly severe.
In 2003, Dr Aeby discovered an outbreak of acropora white syndrome
causing rapid tissue loss in table corals (_Acropora cytherea_) from
French Frigate Shoals in the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National
Monument; this disease killed numerous large corals. In January 2010
DAR biologists on Maui investigated an outbreak of chronic montipora
white syndrome at Ahihi Kinau.
These events illustrate that, like in the Caribbean, coral reefs in
the Pacific are susceptible to disease outbreaks. Given that these
reef resources play an important role in the culture and economy of
Hawaii, understanding these outbreaks and their causes can help us
prevent or at least mitigate the impact of future events.
For more information, please see the Marine Disease Research Lab website at
--
Tara L Hicks Johnson
Outreach Spec, School of Ocean and Earth Sciences and Technology
Greta Aeby
Assistant researcher, Hawaii Institute for Marine Biology
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
[For readers who may wonder what a coral disease is doing in the AHEAD
list, corals are officially classified as animals because they have
the characteristic thin cell membranes of an animal. - Mod.JW]
[This may be a trematode disease infection by the digenetic trematode,
_Podocotyloides stenometra_ Pritchard, a disease termed _Porites_
trematodiasis. Infected coral polyps appear as pink, swollen nodules
on the coral colony. (Greta S Aeby: Spatial and temporal patterns of
_Porites_ trematodiasis on the refs of Kaneo he Bay, Oahu, Hawaii.
Bull Mar Sci 2007. 80(1): 209-18); available from
- Mod.EP]
[The original article at the source URL above includes a photo of dead
and dying corals.
Further information including photos of these and other coral diseases
is available at
Kaneohe Bay can be located via the HealthMap/ProMED-mail interactive
map of Hawaii at
[see also:
2007
----
Coral reef kill - Costa Rica 20070904.2915
Coral reef kill - Pacific Region 20070810.2600
2004
----
Coral reef kills - USA (FL)(02) 20040327.0846
Coral reef kills - USA (FL) 20040320.0777
2002
----
Coral reef kills, unknown etiology - Australia 20021023.5624
Coral reef kills, human waste suspected - Caribbean 20020627.4622
2000
----
Coral reef kills - Belize 20000510.0713
1999
----
Coral reef kills & potential human disease (02) 19990204.0161
Coral reef kills & potential human disease 19990124.0111
1998
----
Coral reef bleaching & El Nino - Indian Ocean (02) 19981113.2187
Coral reef bleaching, El Nino effects - Indian Ocean 19980705.1246
Coral reef kills, etiology determined - USA 19980415.0693
1996
----
White pox, coral reefs - Florida, USA (02) 19961231.2165
White Pox, coral reefs - Florida, USA 19961228.2160]
........................................jw/ep/mj/jw
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