Cure found for amphibian killing fungus?

This video is called Reptiles, Amphibians, Invertebrates & Small Pets : Red-Backed Salamander Facts.

From The Guardian in Britain:

Fungus fighter found

Alok Jha, Science correspondent

Thursday May 24, 2007

Scientists have found a bacterium that appears to repel the deadly fungus blamed for the rapid decline in populations of amphibians around the world.

Experiments show that Pedobacter cryoconitis – found on the skin of red-backed salamanders – wards off the chytridiomycosis fungus threatening amphibians.

“There’s a crying need for some way of treating or mitigating the infection,” said Matthew Fisher, an epidemiologist at Imperial College London.

He said further research was needed.

Reid Harris, of the James Madison University, Virginia, worked on the bacterium with colleagues at Duke University.

He presented his research yesterday at the American Society for Microbiology’s annual meeting in Toronto.

See also here.

And here.

Amphibians of Java, Indonesia: here.

Amphibians of Colorado, USA: here.

An article in the December 2010 issue of the journal Herpetologica describes the behavior of the eastern red-backed salamander, found in forests of North America. The females proved to be more vigorous about guarding clutches of eggs than territory or food: here.