The spread of a deadly disease that was pushing Tasmanian devils towards extinction appears to be slowing, researchers say.
They found that the transmissible cancer called Tasmanian devil facial tumor disease is switching from an emerging disease to an endemic one.
“It is cautiously optimistic good news,” said research team leader Andrew Storfer, a biologist at Washington State University.
“I think we’re going to see continued survival of devils at lower numbers and densities than original population sizes, but extinction seems really unlikely even though it was predicted a decade ago,” Storfer said in a school news release.
The findings could help improve understanding of how other emerging diseases evolve in animals and humans, according to the researchers.