• Question: What is the rarest disease you found?

    Asked by draw499dee on 16 Jul 2025.
    • Photo: Hayley Free

      Hayley Free answered on 16 Jul 2025:

      I don’t look for disease I look for viral DNA – the difference being that disease is the disorder usually featuring a range of symptoms which can be caused by pathogens such as viruses. I look for viral DNA which has been incorporated into the total DNA (called the genome) of an animal – frogs and toads. However, by looking for this viral DNA I have found evidence of many new viruses (called retroviruses) in their DNA!

    • Photo: Joanna Bagniewska

      Joanna Bagniewska answered on 17 Jul 2025:

      I find a lot of wildlife with mange – it’s not rare at all, unfortunately, and leaves them scratching off their fur and dying of cold. Very sad.

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