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Despite years of research, there is no known cure or treatment
for this disease, nor is one likely to be found in the near
future. The best advice is to let it pass through your
population of frogs naturally. Recent research seems to suggest
that affected populations do recover in the years after the
initial outbreak as it's likely some individuals will be
resistant to the disease.
If you have come across suspected cases of ranavirus in your
garden then we want to hear from you - you can
contribute your
simple garden data to our Frog Mortality Project.
The data that we receive is extremely important in understanding
how this disease is spread and how severe the problem is. It can
give us a unique insight into amphibian disease that can provide
a basis for better understanding the long-term effects of this
disease on amphibian populations. Information from the Frog
Mortality Project questionnaire will also provide a framework
which can possibly be applied to other new diseases that
threaten our amphibians. In some cases, we may ask you to
store a dead frog in your freezer in order for it to be
analysed.
Unfortunately there is nothing you can do to help any remaining
frogs. The most recent research suggests that local populations
can make a good recovery so it's a case of waiting for the
disease to pass through and hoping it leaves some survivors who
are resistant. When you are disposing of the bodies it is
important that you do so responsibly by either burning or
burying them. Do not place them in the rubbish as this could
help to spread the disease. Do not move your frogs, spawn or
pond plants to other ponds as this could potentially spread the
disease. There is no evidence to suggest that ranavirus can
infect people or their pets.
You may decide to clear out your pond after an infection but
there are no guarantees this will help.
Some people may be tempted to try and put suffering frogs 'out
of their misery' but this is not really advisable as it's always
possible they could be suffering from another, non-lethal,
disease. There is also the possibility that the frogs could
develop some kind of immunity to ranavirus. However, for advice
on euthanasia please contact your local vet or wildlife
hospital.
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