By Shreya Dasgupta More than a decade ago, a mysterious illness killed billions of sea stars, particularly along the North American Pacific coast. The sea star wasting disease caused the stars to develop lesions,

An estimated 5 billion sea stars have died due to a sea star-wasting disease in oceans around the world. A team of researchers identified the cause as a bacterium known as Vibrio pectenicida.

Scientists have determined the cause of an epidemic that has devastated a species of starfish, wiping out billions over the last decade, and a Bay Area team is at the forefront of an effort to restore their population.

A new study has found that the devastating sea star wasting disease is caused by a strain of bacteria from Vibrio pectenicida, which turns the marine creatures into goo.

Scientists say they have at last solved the mystery of what killed more than 5 billion sea stars off the Pacific coast of North America in a decade-long epidemic.

Sea star wasting disease has devastated starfish populations in North America, driving some species to the brink of extinction. New research has identified Vibrio pectenicida bacteria as the cause of the disease,

Some five billion sea stars have been killed by a mysterious "sea star wasting disease" in the last decade. Scientists finally figured out what's causing it.