Disease from sewage 'is devastating coral'

[pcmankey]

Dr. Reef, is there anything in those sources you looked at that said anything about how humans get it?

 

[Anonymous]

Intense but infrequent sex with one's corals. Haven't you been reading the paper?

 

[Anonymous]

This is what you had to say when I pointed out that the authors did not conclude what you did.

Boo hoo.

First of all I didn't conclude anything; I quoted an article from the British press. Secondly if you honestly think the authors conclusions differed significantly from what was in the newspaper article, you haven't read one or perhaps both articles with any degree of care.

I have yet to see you point to any significant contradiction. Go ahead, quote it. I'd like to see it.

So, tell me who is way out of line. You started slinging **** the second someone even hinted that your summation wasn't quite accurate.

Your "hinting" was the first mud-slinging, again as anyone with a first-grade reading ability can discern. Again, it wasn't my summation, and again, show me where it is inaccurate. You just talk in circles. Put up or shut up.

And it wasn't and still isn't.

Oh, now that is compelling.

You seriously need to go back and re-read your own posts--nothing but vitriol.

Only in proportionate response to your own, and again anyone can read and see who picked the fight.

...these are all rhetorical questions--I don't really want to know.

That about sums it up, doesn't it?

 

[Anonymous]

Dr. Reef, is there anything in those sources you looked at that said anything about how humans get it?

I think it is similar to the other more common bacterial flora in our intestine. Much like E. coli, it is harmless if it is kept relegated to a part of our gut. But, when it arises in other places, it causes infection and disease. I believe it is much less common and problematic however or else the general public would be much more familiar with it as we are with E. coli and other fecal coliform bacteria.

 

[Anonymous]

Dr.reef- have you heard the theory about the dust from africa ? wondering what you think.(the pathogen was found in the soil from the regions it originally came from, and satellite photos show a clear and definite transmission path to the carribean via atmospheric wind).
the info can be found here:coastal.er.usgs.gov/african_dust/

 

[Anonymous]

"Our hypothesis is that much of the coral reef decline in the Caribbean is a result of pathogens transported in dust from North Africa," said Gene Shinn, senior geologist at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Center for Coastal Geology in St. Petersburg, Florida. Shinn, who has spent most of his career studying marine sediments and ground water movement, has witnessed dramatic changes in coral reefs during the last four decades. "I started taking pictures of individual reef areas back in 1959, and the photo record shows that the reefs have been steadily declining," he said.

Well, Gene Shinn has performed a lot of valuable research. But, like Bob Buddemeir, they are both geologists and are subjected to much scrutiny by the actual biologists and ecologists in the field of coral reef studies. Many researchers think that geologists often lose sight of the reality of situations in order to pursue a more general and over-arching explanation that is much grander in scale. For instance, Buddemeir came up with the idea of Adaptive Bleaching Hypothesis in 1993, and it was subsequently slain because it doesn't add up. While it makes "geologic" sense, it doesn't take into account many of the realities of the issues of adaptation, or of coral bleaching.

Similarly, Shinn and other geologists are trying to explain every problem in the Caribbean region with the AFrican Dust cloud. From soiled boats, to asthma in the islands, to the pandemic that killed Diadema urchins (which started in Panama, seemingly implicating disease transmission from boats, not dust).

I do believe there is some merit in the work, and I've seen the very real satellite images that show the cloud moving over the Atlantic, but the idea that it started in 1956 doesn't really add up.

The researchers that found Aspergillus fungi attacking the seafans think they have a smoking gun in the Dust Cloud. They isolated spores from the desert region in Africa that the dust comes from, and now they want to call it cause and effect, rather than a correlation.

But,

Aspergillus fungi have been found not only in Caribbean waters, but in many other places including soil from Washington, D.C., dried Japanese fish and Mexican bee hives. A close relative of penicillium, the fungus is well adapted to conditions of high salt or other solutes, such as sugar.

"If you open up a jelly jar in the refrigerator and there's mold on it," said Taylor, "chances are it's Aspergillus."

It seems to me, they are favoring a more illogical and improbable explanation over local influences. They cannot see the forest for the trees, and they would rather continue this line of inquiry, than look at influences closer to home. Fungi in the Florida drainage basin will have much more impact on nearshore reef waters than will a spore found in Africa. Furthermore, an alternative article goes on to say:

What is interesting about the attacking fungus Aspergillus sydowii, said Taylor, is that it has inhabited Caribbean waters for a very long time but appears to have begun killing coral on a large scale only recently.

One explanation for this is that the fungus mutated in recent years to become more virulent. But more likely, the researchers said, the problem lies with the coral itself. They suspect that weakening of the sea-fan immune system or some other damage to the organism, possibly from changes in the environment, could be making the coral more vulnerable to infection. Thus, the marine creatures may no longer be able to fight off the fungus.

from: http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/rele ... -1998.html

Regards,
Brian

 

[pcmankey]

Check out this link and the links it makes--this is a very very common bacteria, and to link it to humans as the majority carrier is just not founded.
http://www.bacteriamuseum.org/species/serratia.shtml

 

[SPC]

Posted by pcmankey:

Check out this link and the links it makes--this is a very very common bacteria, and to link it to humans as the majority carrier is just not founded.

-After doing some more research over the last few days I have come to the same conclusion as you have in your above post. In fact I would like to ask Dr Reef a question along these lines. This group that did the study from UGA, do you know where all of their research funding comes from? I ask this question because I have learned that there are only 2 things holding up the further developement of the Keys:
1. Widening of US1 to Key Largo.
2. Sewage treatment for each island.
It is my understanding that if #2 is met then the general belief is that #1 will soon follow.
Steve

 

[Anonymous]

Check out this link and the links it makes--this is a very very common bacteria, and to link it to humans as the majority carrier is just not founded.
http://www.bacteriamuseum.org/species/serratia.shtml

I checked out your websites. They don't seem to say much about the bacteria other than it is common, it is found in intestines, and it causes lots of disease.

I certainly didn't see anything about it being found in marine areas.

Visit both your link, and the one I pasted several posts ago and you will see that it has all kinds of relationships and history with humans.

 

[Anonymous]

This group that did the study from UGA, do you know where all of their research funding comes from?

I'm not certain, but I can ask next week when I defend my thesis to the Porters. I think it was done as part of a PhD thesis/dissertation. Also, I'm betting since it was presented at the PNAS website, that it was funded in part or in full by the National Academy of Sciences.

 

[pcmankey]

This is my point
"They don't seem to say much about the bacteria other than it is COMMON"

 

[Anonymous]

So when are you going to tell us how the Independent article you attacked in any way contradicts the PNAS paper? I'm still waiting...

 

[pcmankey]

I only attacked ahs like you who blow the paper out of context. Also, I realized that you don't know what peer-review is--as you are a lacky of some drug company.

 

[Anonymous]

Why dont the two of you tone it down a bit. It really devalues what you are trying to say, and it pushes people away from wanting to hear the messages you want to get across.

 

[Anonymous]

I must agree with Dr. Reef. I have no need to read anything either of you post again. You both have ruined your "reps" for me.

 

[pcmankey]

xxx