Jeffrey M. Lorch
Nicolas Joudrier
Stanislaw Bury
Thibault Cuenot
Michael Franzen
Fernando Martinez-Freiria
Gaetan Guiller
Balint Halpern
Aleksandra Kolanek
Katarzyna Kurek
Olivier Lourdais
Alix Michon
Radka Musilova
Silke Schweiger
Barbara Szulc
Sylvain Ursenbacher
Oleksandr Zinenko
Joseph R. Hoyt
Gaelle Blanvillain
2024
<p><span>Infectious diseases are influenced by interactions between host and pathogen, and the number of infected hosts is rarely homogenous across the landscape. Areas with elevated pathogen prevalence can maintain a high force of infection and may indicate areas with disease impacts on host populations. However, isolating the ecological processes that result in increases in infection prevalence and intensity remains a challenge. Here we elucidate the contribution of pathogen clade and host species in disease hotspots caused by </span><i>Ophidiomyces ophidiicola</i><span>, the pathogen responsible for snake fungal disease, in 21 species of snakes infected with multiple pathogen strains across 10 countries in Europe. We found isolated areas of disease hotspots in a landscape where infections were otherwise low. </span><i>O. ophidiicola</i><span> clade had important effects on transmission, and areas with multiple pathogen clades had higher host infection prevalence. Snake species further influenced infection, with most positive detections coming from species within the </span><i>Natrix</i><span> genus. Our results suggest that both host and pathogen identity are essential components contributing to increased pathogen prevalence.</span></p>
application/pdf
10.1038/s42003-024-06092-x
en
Nature
Contribution of host species and pathogen clade to snake fungal disease hotspots in Europe
article