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[Rodney]

Worth watching.

The parasite which causes Whirling Disease is one example of the increasingly difficult problems caused by exotic species around the world. Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout has seen dramatic population declines and other native species - even otters, herons, and grizzly bear, may be at risk. The problem, caused by a parasite which came from Europe and was introduced into the Rocky Mountains early this century, defies an easy solution. Nonetheless, researchers continue to test and apply new strategies in the hopes of restoring native populations.

Part One

Part Two

[frenchy]

These encounters between hosts and pathogens that did not evolve together are always unpredictables and fascinating. The defense a host evolved against parasites may be very efficient or inefficient against a new parasite, it is the same for the parasite weapons. A very dangerous disease may be insignificant on a new host, or the opposite.
I suspect that there are at least as many cases where the host wins than where the pathogen wins.
Some examples of new encounters between hosts an parasites are famous:
The first american nations were very sensitives to some "old world" diseases
The Great Famine in Ireland is partly due to the appearance of a fungus parasiting potatoes
The Australian tried to control the proliferation of rabbits by introducing the myxomatosis. This disease killed a great percentage of rabbits the first year but became almost harmless in a few years.