Alpine salamanders at risk? The current status of an emerging fungal pathogen

Amphibians globally suffer from emerging infectious diseases like chytridiomycosis caused by the continuously spreading chytrid fungi. One is Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal) and its disease ‒ the 'salamander plague' ‒ which is lethal to several caudate taxa. Recently introduced in...

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Published in:	PloS one Vol. 19; no. 5; p. e0298591
Main Authors:	Böning, Philipp, Lötters, Stefan, Barzaghi, Benedetta, Bock, Marvin, Bok, Bobby, Bonato, Lucio, Ficetola, Gentile Francesco, Glaser, Florian, Griese, Josline, Grabher, Markus, Leroux, Camille, Munimanda, Gopikrishna, Manenti, Raoul, Ludwig, Gerda, Preininger, Doris, Rödel, Mark-Oliver, Seibold, Sebastian, Smith, Steve, Tiemann, Laura, Thein, Jürgen, Veith, Michael, Plewnia, Amadeus
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	United States Public Library of Science 17-05-2024 Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Subjects:	Amphibians Animals Batrachochytrium - genetics Batrachochytrium - pathogenicity Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans Biology and Life Sciences Breeding Chytridiomycosis Chytridiomycota Citizen scientists Communicable diseases Communicable Diseases, Emerging - epidemiology Communicable Diseases, Emerging - microbiology Communicable Diseases, Emerging - veterinary Datasets Dispersal Ecological models Ecology and Environmental Sciences Endangered & extinct species Europe - epidemiology Health aspects Infectious diseases Mathematical models Mediation Medicine and Health Sciences Mycoses - epidemiology Mycoses - microbiology Mycoses - veterinary Pathogens People and Places Plague Reptiles & amphibians Salamandra - microbiology Salamandra atra Salamandra lanzai Science Policy Urodela - microbiology Europe Austria Germany Western Europe Alps Italy Bavaria Germany
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Summary:	Amphibians globally suffer from emerging infectious diseases like chytridiomycosis caused by the continuously spreading chytrid fungi. One is Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal) and its disease ‒ the 'salamander plague' ‒ which is lethal to several caudate taxa. Recently introduced into Western Europe, long distance dispersal of Bsal, likely through human mediation, has been reported. Herein we study if Alpine salamanders (Salamandra atra and S. lanzai) are yet affected by the salamander plague in the wild. Members of the genus Salamandra are highly susceptible to Bsal leading to the lethal disease. Moreover, ecological modelling has shown that the Alps and Dinarides, where Alpine salamanders occur, are generally suitable for Bsal. We analysed skin swabs of 818 individuals of Alpine salamanders and syntopic amphibians at 40 sites between 2017 to 2022. Further, we compiled those with published data from 319 individuals from 13 sites concluding that Bsal infections were not detected. Our results suggest that the salamander plague so far is absent from the geographic ranges of Alpine salamanders. That means that there is still a chance to timely implement surveillance strategies. Among others, we recommend prevention measures, citizen science approaches, and ex situ conservation breeding of endemic salamandrid lineages.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
ISSN:	1932-6203 1932-6203
DOI:	10.1371/journal.pone.0298591