A first screening of chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium in amphibians in French zoos

Abstract

Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) and Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal) screening was carried out in captive amphibians in order to establish the presence of these fungal pathogens in French zoos. Over a period of 3 years, 437 skin swabs were collected at eight French zoos and one private breeding centre [38 species of Anura, 7 species and 2 subspecies of Urodela (salamanders and newts), and 1 caecilian species] and these were analysed using qPCR. None of the samples revealed the presence of Bsal. Bd was detected four times on three species – American bullfrog Lithobates catesbeianus, Common midwife toad Alytes obstetricans and Yellow‐bellied toad Bombina variegata – all of which originated from or were in contact with the natural environment.

Mitigating Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans in Europe

“…Thorough screening of captive collections for Bsal (e.g. carried out in Germany; Sabino-Pinto et al, 2018b;and France;Marquis et al, 2019) and immediate treatment of these captive collections upon detection, are urgently needed to eliminate this Bsal reservoir, preferably supported by legislation. Based on an estimation of the number of amphibian keepers and number of pet amphibians in Europe, a total initial screening cost of the European states would be well below 1 million Euros as presented in supplementary table S2.…”