How a Microbe in Humans Is Killing Coral

Posted by BRYAN WALSH Friday, August 19, 2011 at 5:09 pm

Infected elkhorn coral. Credit: James W. Porter / University of Georgia / AFP / Getty Images

Usually infectious disease is a one-way street—and human beings are at the end. New viruses begin in wild animals—like monkeys or chickens—before they mutate and cross over to human beings. HIV, West Nile, SARS, H5N1, H1N1—just about every new infectious disease over the past several decades had its start in animals before infecting people. "We're in a unique time because the world is completely globalized now," says Peter Daszak, the president of the EcoHealth Alliance, a non-profit that works on the intersection between animal and human health. "New pathogens arise out of this border between wildlife and humans."/.../