UGA Profs say Sewage is killing Caribbean Coral

A disease devastating Caribbean coral reefs is caused by a pathogen from human sewage. That's the finding in a recently published study by UGA researchers James W. Porter and Erin K. Lipp. along with Rollins College scientist Kathryn P. Sutherland

The contagion, white pox disease, kills elkhorn coral, once the most common coral in the Caribbean. This coral was listed for protection under the United States Endangered Species Act in 2006, largely due to white pox disease, which forms dead, white patches on the coral. As the pox spreads, the entire coral turns white and dies.

Coral reefs have been declining worldwide. This research should greatly assist efforts to protect endangered reefs by prompting measures to prevent further releases of the sewage causing this devastating disease.

Porter, a professor in the at UGA, says, "Bacteria from humans kill corals—that's the bad news."

 "But the good news," he says, "is that we can solve this problem with advanced wastewater treatment facilities," like one recently completed in Key West.

 "This problem is not like hurricanes, which we can't control. We can do something about this one," he said.

 A $2.2 million grant from the National Science Foundation funds the group collaborating on this research, which is investigating the ecology of white pox disease in the Florida Keys. The five-year study will focus on mechanisms of transmission of the disease and the factors that drive the emergence and maintenance of white pox outbreaks, including water quality, climate variability and patterns of human population density.

"We are concerned that disease incidence or severity may increase with rising temperatures," Lipp said, "reinforcing the importance of protecting near-shore water quality in a changing climate."

Lipp is an associate professor of environmental health science at UGA. Porter is also a faculty member in the School of Marine Programs, Water Resources and Conservation Ecology. 

More information about this study >>