Michael Gochfeld
Robert T. Zappalorti
John F. Bunnell
Christian Jeitner
David Schneider
Kelly Ng
Emile DeVito
Jeffrey M. Lorch
Joanna Burger
2023
<div id="Abs1-section" class="c-article-section"><div id="Abs1-content" class="c-article-section__content"><p>Snake fungal disease, caused by<span> </span><i>Ophidiomyces ophidiicola</i>, is recognized as a potential concern for North American snakes. We tested skin swabs from Northern Pine Snakes (<i>Pituophis melanoleucus melanoleucus</i>) in the New Jersey pinelands for the presence of<span> </span><i>O. ophidiicola</i><span> </span>before emergence from hibernation. We used qPCR to test the collected swabs for the presence of<span> </span><i>O. ophidiicola</i>, then determined pathogen prevalence as a function of sampling year, sampling location (skin lesion, healthy ventral skin, healthy head skin) sex, and age<i>.</i><span> </span>There were no temporal trends in<span> </span><i>O. ophidiicola</i><span> </span>detection percentages on snakes, which varied from 58 to 83% in different years.<span> </span><i>Ophidiomyces ophidiicola</i><span> </span>detection on snakes was highest in swabs of skin lesions (71%) and lowest in head swabs (29%). Males had higher prevalence than females (82% versus 62%). The fungus was not detected in hatchling snakes (age 0) in the fall, but 75% of juveniles tested positive at the end of hibernation (age 1 year). We also screened hibernacula soil samples for the presence of<span> </span><i>O. ophidiicola</i>. Where snakes hibernated, 69% of soil samples were positive for<span> </span><i>O. ophidiicola</i>, and 85% of snakes lying on positive soil samples also tested positive for the pathogen. Although a high proportion of snakes (73%) tested positive for<span> </span><i>O. ophidiicola</i><span> </span>during our 4-year study<i>,</i><span> </span>the snakes appeared healthy except for small skin lesions. We conclude that<span> </span><i>O. ophidiicola</i><span> </span>prevalence is high on hibernating Northern Pine Snakes and in the hibernacula soil, with a strong association between snakes and positive adjacent soil. This is the first demonstration that snakes likely become infected during hibernation.</p></div></div>
application/pdf
10.1007/s10661-023-11259-w
en
Springer
Prevalence of Ophidiomyces ophidiicola and epizootiology of snake fungal disease in free-ranging Northern Pine Snakes (Pituophis melanoleucus melanoleucus) in New Jersey
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