Host Factors and Testing Modality Agreement Associated With Ophidiomyces Infection in a Free-Ranging Snake Population in Southeast Ohio, Usa

Ophidiomycosis in Red Cornsnakes (Pantherophis guttatus): Potential Roles of Brumation and Temperature on Pathogenesis and Transmission

“…This is consistent with other studies in which there were no associations between O. ophiodiicola infection and body weight, sex, age-class, or body length in wild snakes. 12,25 However, snakes with low body weights at the time of inoculation had reduced survival times, across all experimental groups. This suggests that there is a threshold for which reduced body weight becomes important in terms of survival.…”

“…25 Some snake species have been shown to have strong brumation site fidelity and are known to share a single burrow, and O. ophiodiicola DNA has been recovered from soil samples in areas with infected snakes. 25,43 However, we did not find environmental contamination of O. ophiodiicola DNA, which may partially reflect a lack of robust sampling efforts. It is possible that subcutaneous injection of O. ophiodiicola reduced the amount of fungus on the skin surface, although fungus was observed on the surface of some snakes (Fig.…”

“…Communal brumation sites have been proposed as important for disease transmission due to close contact of snakes and contamination of the shared environment. 25 Some snake species have been shown to have strong brumation site fidelity and are known to share a single burrow, and O. ophiodiicola DNA has been recovered from soil samples in areas with infected snakes. 25,43 However, we did not find environmental contamination of O. ophiodiicola DNA, which may partially reflect a lack of robust sampling efforts.…”

“…Temperature and brumation are suspected to be major drivers in the epidemiology of ophidiomycosis in free-ranging snakes in temperate climates. 12,25 Brumation is a prolonged period of low temperatures leading to decreased activity in ectotherms that can negatively impact immune function and metabolic rate. 15,22,34 In reptiles and other ectotherms, there is seasonal cyclicity in lymphoid tissue in both the thymus and the spleen, with abundance peaking in the spring and the autumn.…”

Ophidiomyces ophidiicola in free-ranging and captive snakes in the Czech and Slovak Republics

“…Ophidiomyces ophidiicola (Sigler et al 2013; herein abbreviated as Oo ), an ascomycetic fungus causing ophidiomycosis (Allain & Duffus 2019, Paré et al 2021) that usually manifests as superficial dermatomycosis (Cheatwood et al 2003, Lorch et al 2015, Meier et al 2018), is the most relevant and most often studied fungal pathogen of snakes (Sigler et al 2013, Di Nicola et al 2022). Ophidiomycosis was originally referred to as snake fungal disease (SFD) (Sleeman 2013, Lorch et al 2015, Latney & Wellehan 2020) due to a set of typical clinical signs (Schilliger et al 2023) that included crusting and ulcerative dermatitis of a typically yellow to brown colour (Allender et al 2015a, Lorch et al 2016, Franklinos et al 2017, Long et al 2019). In addition, the disease may progress to multifocal skin lesions, granulocytic inflammation and necrotic foci.…”