Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, 40546-7118, USA.
Conservation Ecology Center, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Front Royal, VA, 22630, USA.
Ecohealth. 2019 Mar;16(1):141-150. doi: 10.1007/s10393-018-1384-8. Epub 2018 Oct 22.
Snake fungal disease (SFD) is an emerging disease caused by the fungal pathogen, Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola. Clinical signs of SFD include dermal lesions, including regional and local edema, crusts, and ulcers. Snake fungal disease is widespread in the Eastern United States, yet there are limited data on how clinical signs of SFD compare with laboratory diagnostics. We compared two sampling methods for O. ophiodiicola, scale clip collection and swabbing, to evaluate whether collection method impacted the results of polymerase chain reaction (PCR). In addition, we evaluated the use of clinical signs to predict the presence of O. ophiodiicola across seasons, snake habitat affiliation (aquatic or terrestrial) and study sites. We found no significant difference in PCR results between sampling methods. Clinical signs were a strong predictor of O. ophiodiicola presence in spring and summer seasons. Snakes occupying terrestrial environments had a lower overall probability of testing positive for O. ophiodiicola compared to snakes occupying aquatic environments. Although our study indicates that both clinical signs of SFD and prevalence of O. ophiodiicola vary seasonally and based on habitat preferences of the host, our analysis suggests that clinical signs can serve as a reliable indicator of O. ophiodiicola presence, especially during spring and summer.
蛇真菌病（SFD）是一种由真菌病原体蛇霉菌引起的新兴疾病。SFD 的临床症状包括皮肤损伤，包括局部和局部水肿、结痂和溃疡。蛇真菌病在美国东部广泛存在，但关于 SFD 的临床症状与实验室诊断的比较数据有限。我们比较了两种蛇霉菌的采样方法，即鳞片夹取和拭子采样，以评估采样方法是否会影响聚合酶链反应（PCR）的结果。此外，我们评估了临床症状在不同季节、蛇类栖息地（水生或陆生）和研究地点的存在预测 O.ophiodiicola 的效果。我们发现两种采样方法的 PCR 结果没有显著差异。临床症状是春夏季 O.ophiodiicola 存在的强预测因素。与生活在水生环境的蛇相比，生活在陆地环境的蛇检测出 O.ophiodiicola 阳性的总体概率较低。尽管我们的研究表明，SFD 的临床症状和 O.ophiodiicola 的流行程度都随季节和宿主的栖息地偏好而变化，但我们的分析表明，临床症状可以作为 O.ophiodiicola 存在的可靠指标，尤其是在春季和夏季。
