(Newser)
– For the past 25 years, a mysterious ailment has been killing bald eagles in the US and leaving them with holes in their brains. Researchers identified vacuolar myelinopathy (VM), a deadly condition that causes paralysis, blindness and seizures in bald eagles and their prey, including fish, turtles, snakes and smaller birds, and now believe they know what caused it. for life Science. Initial suspicions fell Hydrilla verticillata, a highly invasive plant native to Central Africa and common in fish tanks, which has been taking lakes in several states. Because only some of these lakes were linked to VM, later research identified a species of cyanobacteria that was found in certain Hydrilla plants. In one laboratory, cyanobacterial cultures did not produce any type of toxin. This changed, however, when the researchers added bromide to the mixture, by release.
The bacteria produced the toxin called aetochtonototoxin, or “eagle-killing poison.” Bromine is produced naturally in small amounts in lakes, but is also introduced through chemical runoff and herbicides, which are used “ironically to control the spread of Hydrilla, according to Live Science. Further research showed that the plant is “capable of enriching bromide from the environment, making it even more available to cyanobacteria.” With cable. “It was only this discovery that made us aware that VM is also spreading due to [human] influence, ”says Steffen Breinlinger, who worked with an international team of researchers in a study at Science. He points out that VM can never be eradicated from lakes in the United States, but “if we control bromide in reservoirs … ultimately, [the cyanobacteria] she will be stripped of her weapon. ” With cable points out that the effect on humans eating infected animals is still unclear. (Read much better news for bald eagles.)