Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford St, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
Ecohealth. 2010 Jun;7(2):248-51. doi: 10.1007/s10393-010-0313-2. Epub 2010 Jun 2.
Chytridiomycosis (Bd) is contributing to amphibian extinctions worldwide but has so far not been detected in Madagascar. The high likelihood for Bd to spread to the island and efface this amphibian diversity and endemism hotspot requires respective conservation policies to be developed. Bd could be introduced by the large number of tourists that visit protected areas; therefore, increasing awareness among tourists and encouraging them to participate in safety measures should be a priority conservation action. However, concerns have been raised that tourists would not be able to distinguish between an amphibian disease harmless to humans and emerging diseases that would imply a danger for human health, invoking a negative image of Madagascar as an ecotourism destination. We evaluated whether informing tourists about this infectious animal disease would cause health scare and diminish trip satisfaction. Based on 659 respondents we found that most ecotourists favored to be informed about Bd and were proactive about participating in prevention measures, refuting previous concerns.
蛙壶菌病（Bd）正在导致全球范围内的两栖动物灭绝，但迄今为止尚未在马达加斯加发现。Bd 极有可能传播到该岛，消灭这一热点地区的两栖动物多样性和特有性，因此需要制定相应的保护政策。大量游客访问保护区，可能会引入 Bd；因此，提高游客的意识并鼓励他们参与安全措施应成为优先保护行动。然而，人们担心游客无法区分对人类无害的两栖动物疾病和新兴疾病，新兴疾病可能对人类健康构成威胁，从而对马达加斯加作为生态旅游目的地产生负面影响。我们评估了告知游客有关这种传染性动物疾病是否会引起健康恐慌并降低旅行满意度。基于 659 名受访者，我们发现大多数生态游客赞成了解 Bd 并积极参与预防措施，反驳了之前的担忧。
