There have been some news articles recently about reported cases of Alabama Rot in my locality lately; it’s a rare, but typically fatal disease, first reported in the 1980s, affecting dogs that manifests as sores - often starting on the paws and spreading up the legs, then progresses to kidney failure and death.
Apparently, the cause is unknown; it is believed to be associated with wet and muddy woodland environments but no pathogen or toxin has been identified - it seems really strange to me that a disease that has been known for 40 years could still be a complete mystery in terms of cause.
Is it likely that this is just because the comparative rarity of the disease means there is insufficient funding resource or impetus to research it fully? Is it possible that there is some completely novel type of pathogen that is hiding in plain sight and is not a fungus or protist or bacterium or virus or prion, but something else altogether?