Rosenau Nicholas A, Gignoux-Wolfsohn Sarah, Everett Richard A, Miller A Whitman, Minton Mark S, Ruiz Gregory M
Ocean and Coastal Management Branch, Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, United States.
Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MD, United States.
Front Mar Sci. 2021 Sep 22;8:1-8. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2021.709764.
Stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) is a troubling new disease that is spreading rapidly across the greater Caribbean region, but the etiological agent(s) and the mechanisms(s) of spread are both unknown. First detected off the coast of Miami, Florida, major ocean currents alone do not explain the pattern of spread, with outbreaks occurring across geographically disjunct and distant locations. This has raised concerns by researchers and resource managers that commercial vessels may contribute as vectors to spread of the disease. Despite existing regulatory and management strategies intended to limit coastal marine invasion risks, the efficacy of these measures is still unresolved for ship-borne microorganisms, and disease transport ballast water and hull biofouling are under examination given the high ship traffic in the region. Here, to help inform the discussion of ships as possible vectors of SCTLD, we provide an overview of the current state of knowledge about ships and their potential to transfer organisms in the greater Caribbean, focusing in particular on ballast water, and outline a set of recommendations for future research.
石珊瑚组织损失病（SCTLD）是一种令人担忧的新疾病，正在大加勒比地区迅速蔓延，但病原体和传播机制均不明。该病首次在佛罗里达州迈阿密海岸外被发现，仅主要洋流无法解释其传播模式，疫情在地理上分散且遥远的地点爆发。这引发了研究人员和资源管理者的担忧，即商业船只可能作为传播媒介促使该病扩散。尽管现有监管和管理策略旨在限制沿海海洋入侵风险，但这些措施对船载微生物的有效性仍未得到解决，鉴于该地区船舶交通量高，压载水和船体生物污损导致的疾病传播正在接受审查。在此，为了有助于为将船舶作为SCTLD可能传播媒介的讨论提供信息，我们概述了关于船舶及其在大加勒比地区转移生物的潜力的当前知识状况，特别关注压载水，并概述了一系列未来研究建议。
