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Disease ecology

Hidden outbreaks in an amphibian pandemic

Zooming in at fine spatial scales reveals that pathogens spread through close contact can produce striking variation in infection rates among groups of host animals just metres apart, which drives hidden epidemics and population collapse.

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Fig. 1: Tolerant hosts may amplify pathogen transmission to vulnerable species.

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Correspondence to Gabriel Maturani Barrile.

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Barrile, G.M. Hidden outbreaks in an amphibian pandemic. Nat Ecol Evol (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-025-02950-x

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