‘Unprecedented’ Coral Disease Relief Efforts

Scientists have discovered a new tool to add to their arsenal in treating and preventing a disease that has wreaked havoc on Florida’s coral reefs for years, according to new research. Why it matters: Stony coral tissue loss disease, or SCTLD, is a fast-acting, deadly plague-like affliction that has long confounded researchers at authorities like NOAA — even as it spreads throughout the wider Caribbean, threatening local economy and livelihoods.What they found: Led by Smithsonian Marine Station researchers and funded in part by NOAA, the study published Thursday in the journal Communications Biology found that a bacterial probiotic treatment effectively stopped or slowed SCTLD in nearly two-thirds of tested infected coral fragments.