{"id":623900,"date":"2026-05-05T00:37:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T00:37:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/623900\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T00:37:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T00:37:10","slug":"washington-officials-confiscate-newts-carrying-deadly-pathogen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/623900\/","title":{"rendered":"Washington officials confiscate newts carrying deadly pathogen"},"content":{"rendered":"

State wildlife officials seized 16 invasive newts carrying a contagious and possibly deadly<\/a> disease from an Everson man last week, referring charges to the Whatcom County Prosecutor\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

Becky Elder of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife<\/a> Police told The Bellingham Herald \u201cthere is lots at stake\u201d because the imported newts threaten local amphibians.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey can have massive effects on our local populations. This is not just a state issue. Washington state is at the forefront of maintaining our local native species,\u201d Elder said in a phone call.<\/p>\n

No arrests have been made, and the Everson man suspected of trafficking invasive species was not named, Elder said. Prosecutors are reviewing the case and deciding whether to file charges, she said.<\/p>\n

State wildlife officials learned of the case last year when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was tipped that a Boston amphibian dealer and breeder had been illegally buying amphibians that carried an unknown pathogen or virus.<\/p>\n

\u201cResearch suggests these pathogens can spread through direct contact and contaminated environments, with significant mortality rates and risk to native species,\u201d the WDFW said in an emailed statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Boston trafficker\u2019s facility held between 300 and 500 amphibians and reptiles exposed to this potentially deadly pathogen, which to date had not been found in the United States. This trafficker sold and shipped numerous amphibians across the country to other breeders and buyers, including one recipient, a breeder, in Washington state,\u201d the WDFW statement said.<\/p>\n

Newts seized in the incident were the Anatolia newt<\/a>, a semi-aquatic salamander that is native to Turkey, and the marbled newt<\/a>, a mostly terrestrial newt native to Western Europe, according to AmphibiaWeb<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Justin Bush, manager of WDFW\u2019s Aquatic Invasive Species Division, said the state and federal investigation stopped a potential environmental catastrophe.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese coordinated state and federal efforts prevented the introduction and spread of a high-risk invasive species and a potentially devastating amphibian pathogen in Washington. If introduced to the wild, either could have caused severe ecological damage and triggered costly long-term management efforts. This case underscores the importance of early detection and rapid response,\u201d Bush said.<\/p>\n

This story was originally published May 4, 2026 at 12:32 PM.<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Robert Mittendorf<\/a><\/p>\n

The Bellingham Herald<\/p>\n

Robert Mittendorf covers civic issues, weather, traffic and how people are coping with the high cost of housing for The Bellingham Herald. A journalist since 1984, he also served 22 years as a volunteer firefighter for South Whatcom Fire Authority before retiring in 2025.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"State wildlife officials seized 16 invasive newts carrying a contagious and possibly deadly disease from an Everson man…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":623901,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[79,201],"class_list":["post-623900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=623900"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623900\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/623901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=623900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=623900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=623900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}