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Since 1978 there has been a series of outbreaks of crayfish plague fungus, Aphanomyces astaci in Spain. As a result, most populations of the native freshwater crayfish species, Austropotamobius pallipes, have been devastated by this disease. This paper describes the steady spread of the crayfish plague through populations of A. pallipes since 1978 and the present situation of the crayfish plague. Thus, the first diagnosis of this disease since 1978 and the first isolation of A. astaci from A. pallipes in Spain are also presented. Key-words : Oomycetes,Aphanomyces, Saprolegnia, crayfish, epidemiology. INFECTION FONGIQUE À APHANOMYCES ASTACI OU «PESTE» DES ÉCREVISSES EN ESPAGNE. RÉSUMÉDepuis 1978, une série d'épizooties correspondant à la «peste» des écrevisses, dont l'agent responsable est le champignon Aphanomyces astaci, s'est produite en Espagne. En conséquence, la plupart des populations de l'écrevisse patrimoniale Austropotamobius pallipes a été décimée par cette maladie. Cet article décrit l'état actuel de la maladie dans les populations d'A. pallipes depuis 1978 et la situation actuelle qui en résulte. De plus, le premier diagnostic de la maladie est décrit depuis 1978 et le premier isolement du champignon est réalisé à partir d'un stock d'A. pallipes infectées et mortes sur le territoire espagnol.

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Water-borne transmission may play an important role in the epidemiology of Toxoplasma gondii. Mammals closely related to freshwater ecosystems, such as the American mink (Neovison vison), are potentially valuable sentinels for T. gondii. To assess the importance of freshwater ecosystems in T. gondii epidemiology, sera of 678 American minks collected during the 2010 to 2015 Spanish national eradication campaigns were tested for the presence of T. gondii antibodies using the modified agglutination test (MAT, cut-off 1:25). A high prevalence of samples, 78.8% (CI: 75.5-81.8), were seropositive. In addition, a specific real-time PCR was performed in 120 brain samples and the parasite DNA was detected in 9.2% (CI: 5.2-15.7). Significant differences in seroprevalence were detected among bioregions, with the highest levels detected in coastal areas, and by age. The higher seroprevalence observed in older animals (80.0% adults versus 68.7% juveniles) confirms the importance of the horizontal transmission. These results indicate a widespread presence of T. gondii oocysts in freshwater ecosystems from Spain and further support the importance of water-borne transmission in the epidemiology of T. gondii.