Human sewage is to blame for a disease that is killing elkhorn coral, listed as endangered several years ago because of a massive die-off, US researchers said.
The coral lives in waters off south Florida and the Bahamas and was once the most prevalent in the Caribbean, but has been vanishing due to white pox disease, caused by the bacterium Serratia marcescens that is found in human and animal waste.
Researchers analysed the bacteria from a waste water treatment facility in Key West, Florida and compared to faeces samples from local animals and birds. The type afflicting coral was found to match the kind found in human sewage.
