Road-killed Common Toads (Bufo bufo) in Flanders (Belgium) Reveal Low Prevalence of Ranaviruses and Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis

Martel, An; Fard, Mojdeh Sharifian; Rooij, Pascale Van; Jooris, Robert; Boone, Francine; Haesebrouck, Freddy; Rooij, David Van; Pasmans, Frank

doi:10.7589/0090-3558-48.3.835

Cited by 14 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Presence preceding 1999 cannot be excluded because fixation history was not known for all specimens, and some may have been originally fixed in formalin, which reduces the chance of detecting Bd (Soto‐Azat et al ). Although mass mortality events in amphibians do occur in our study area, none have been attributed to chytridiomycosis (Kik et al ; Martel et al , ). Hypotheses explaining the observed pattern of infection and lack of severe costs associated with Bd presence include the fungus is endemic and either exhibits reduced virulence or host species exhibit increased tolerance or resistance or Bd is recently arrived but has yet to firmly establish or reach a critical threshold where more detectable costs to hosts can be detected.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 76%

Environmental Determinants of Recent Endemism of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis Infections in Amphibian Assemblages in the Absence of Disease Outbreaks

Sluijs

Martel

Hallmann

et al. 2014

Conservation Biology

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The inconsistent distribution of large-scale infection mediated die-offs and the subsequent population declines of several animal species, urges us to understand how, when, and why species are affected by disease. It is often unclear when or under what conditions a pathogen constitutes a threat to a host. Often, variation of environmental conditions plays a role. Globally Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) causes amphibian declines; however, host responses are inconsistent and this fungus appears equally capable of reaching a state of endemism and subsequent co-existence with native amphibian assemblages. We sought to identify environmental and temporal factors that facilitate host-pathogen coexistence in northern Europe. To do this, we used molecular diagnostics to examine archived and wild amphibians for infection and general linear mixed models to explore relationships between environmental variables and prevalence of infection in 5 well-sampled amphibian species. We first detected infection in archived animals collected in 1999, and infection was ubiquitous, but rare, throughout the study period (2008-2010). Prevalence of infection exhibited significant annual fluctuations. Despite extremely rare cases of lethal chytridiomycosis in A. obstetricans, Bd prevalence was uncorrelated with this species' population growth. Our results suggest context dependent and species-specific host susceptibility. Thus, we believe recent endemism of Bd coincides with environmentally driven Bd prevalence fluctuations that preclude the build-up of Bd infection beyond the critical threshold for large-scale mortality and host population crashes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 76%

Environmental Determinants of Recent Endemism of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis Infections in Amphibian Assemblages in the Absence of Disease Outbreaks

Sluijs

Martel

Hallmann

et al. 2014

Conservation Biology

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“…B. dendrobatidis is currently present almost everywhere amphibians occur [ 7 ]. Until 2010, in Northern Europe it occurred in amphibian populations in a coexistence steady state [ 8 , 9 ], with only rare reports of B. dendrobatidis -linked mortality [ 10 , 11 ]. Starting from 2010, a steep enigmatic decline was observed in an endangered but stable population of fire salamanders ( Salamandra salamandra ) in the south of the Netherlands [ 12 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Amphibian chytridiomycosis: a review with focus on fungus-host interactions

Rooij

Martel

Haesebrouck

et al. 2015

Vet Res

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Amphibian declines and extinctions are emblematic for the current sixth mass extinction event. Infectious drivers of these declines include the recently emerged fungal pathogens Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis and Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Chytridiomycota). The skin disease caused by these fungi is named chytridiomycosis and affects the vital function of amphibian skin. Not all amphibians respond equally to infection and host responses might range from resistant, over tolerant to susceptible. The clinical outcome of infection is highly dependent on the amphibian host, the fungal virulence and environmental determinants. B. dendrobatidis infects the skin of a large range of anurans, urodeles and caecilians, whereas to date the host range of B. salamandrivorans seems limited to urodeles. So far, the epidemic of B. dendrobatidis is mainly limited to Australian, neotropical, South European and West American amphibians, while for B. salamandrivorans it is limited to European salamanders. Other striking differences between both fungi include gross pathology and thermal preferences. With this review we aim to provide the reader with a state-of-the art of host-pathogen interactions for both fungi, in which new data pertaining to the interaction of B. dendrobatidis and B. salamandrivorans with the host’s skin are integrated. Furthermore, we pinpoint areas in which more detailed studies are necessary or which have not received the attention they merit.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13567-015-0266-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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“…Thus, substantial opportunity exists for Bd for introduction into Speleomantes populations and to amplify rapidly once introduced, but neither of these seems to have occurred to any significant degree. Field studies of other amphibian species have reported low prevalence or absence of detectable infection in species that show seasonal fluctuations in prevalence 35–37. We find this an unlikely explanation for the observed absence of infection.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 46%

Resistance to Chytridiomycosis in European Plethodontid Salamanders of the Genus Speleomantes

et al. 2013

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North America and the neotropics harbor nearly all species of plethodontid salamanders. In contrast, this family of caudate amphibians is represented in Europe and Asia by two genera, Speleomantes and Karsenia, which are confined to small geographic ranges. Compared to neotropical and North American plethodontids, mortality attributed to chytridiomycosis caused by Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) has not been reported for European plethodontids, despite the established presence of Bd in their geographic distribution. We determined the extent to which Bd is present in populations of all eight species of European Speleomantes and show that Bd was undetectable in 921 skin swabs. We then compared the susceptibility of one of these species, Speleomantes strinatii, to experimental infection with a highly virulent isolate of Bd (BdGPL), and compared this to the susceptible species Alytes muletensis. Whereas the inoculated A. muletensis developed increasing Bd-loads over a 4-week period, none of five exposed S. strinatii were colonized by Bd beyond 2 weeks post inoculation. Finally, we determined the extent to which skin secretions of Speleomantes species are capable of killing Bd. Skin secretions of seven Speleomantes species showed pronounced killing activity against Bd over 24 hours. In conclusion, the absence of Bd in Speleomantes combined with resistance to experimental chytridiomycosis and highly efficient skin defenses indicate that the genus Speleomantes is a taxon unlikely to decline due to Bd.

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Road-killed Common Toads (Bufo bufo) in Flanders (Belgium) Reveal Low Prevalence of Ranaviruses and Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis

Cited by 14 publications

References 12 publications

Environmental Determinants of Recent Endemism of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis Infections in Amphibian Assemblages in the Absence of Disease Outbreaks

Environmental Determinants of Recent Endemism of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis Infections in Amphibian Assemblages in the Absence of Disease Outbreaks

Amphibian chytridiomycosis: a review with focus on fungus-host interactions

Resistance to Chytridiomycosis in European Plethodontid Salamanders of the Genus Speleomantes

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