CHECK LINK FOR UP TO DAY INFO ON THE VIRUS AND SEA STAR WASTING:
“Densovirus associated with sea-star wasting disease and mass mortality”
http://www.eeb.ucsc.edu/pacificrockyintertidal/data-products/sea-star-wasting/updates.html
This story is not over by a long shot but major progress has be made in connecting a densovirus with sea star wasting syndrome. Many questions reamain: Why was this outbreak so devastating?
Was sea temperature a factor in the spread of the disease? Will juvenile sea stars survive to replace the lost population? What other factors may have been involved in the disease? Since this virus has been around for decades why did it now become so wide spread and devastating to so many species at the same time? Was overpopulation of sea stars a factor in the spread of the disease? With some reports of diseased sea urchins and sea cucumbers it remains open as to whether the same densovirus is implicated in these instances.
Stay tuned......this is going to be news for a long time...
HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL
BUZZ
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