The snake fungus among us: Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola
A HUGE thank you to everyone who has backed my project so far! When I started this note, I was only 7% away from my goal and, while I was writing, a very generous individual donated to meet my goal. I can't tell you how excited I am to have funded my project!! I truly appreciate all of you and your donations and I could not have funded this project without your support.
To finish off the campaign, I want to share some information about ophidiomycosis (aka snake fungal disease) and it's causative fungus, Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola. Don't worry, you don't have to be able to pronounce the names to understand the disease! You may be more familiar with other fungal diseases in wildlife, such as white nose syndrome, which affects bats, and chytrid, which affects amphibians, and ophidiomycosis is another emerging fungal disease with a huge impact on wildlife health. The disease has been documented in wild snakes in the US and Europe and in captive snakes around the world. In the US, there have been cases in every state east of the Mississippi as well as Texas. And pretty much everywhere researchers go to survey snakes and take samples for testing, we find the disease. It's not clear at this point whether it's a new disease or just something we're seeing more because we're doing more testing, but it's definitely widespread. The earliest confirmed cases in the US are from the early 2000s and more than 30 species of snakes are known to be affected. A recent paper found that there were no apparent genetic or ecological traits that are associated with susceptibility to the disease, which means that all species are potentially susceptible. And the disease affects species of conservation concern, such as endangered rattlesnakes and Eastern Indigo snakes.
So how do we know if a snake has the disease? Infection with the fungus typically causes skin lesions that can be anywhere on the body. Lesions can include wrinkled or displaced scales, crusts, ulcers, and even facial disfigurement. Here are some gross pictures of lesions in watersnakes:
In some cases, animals are just lethargic, spend more time basking (increasing their body temperature helps boost their immune function), or have difficulty shedding. In other cases, the fungus can invade deeper into the body and there have been reports of SFD in internal organs such as the lungs, liver, and kidneys. While we don't think the disease is typically fatal, severely affected animals can die from secondary infections or loss of ability to find food when lesions involve the mouth and/or eyes.
At this point, there's a lot we don't know about the disease. We think that the causative fungus is naturally found in the soil, but it's hard to detect so it's difficult to compare the amount of fungus in different environments, which could explain why some snakes are more heavily impacted by the disease. We also think that the disease is transmitted by contact with infected soil or with other snakes with the disease, but this hasn't been proven. We know that different individuals and species show a wide range of symptoms, which may be due to genetics, immune response, environmental factors, or different strains of the fungus. And while one of my major PhD projects is working on a treatment for the disease, it's very difficult to control the disease in wild snake populations.
So what can we do to save the snakes? This isn't the only threat that snakes face, so there are lots of ways to help: working to reduce habitat destruction and climate, educating people about the importance of snakes and the minimal risk they pose to us, supporting research into snake and wildlife health, and cleaning your boots when you spend time outside so you don't spread soil with fungus to new areas (brush off the dirt and then spray with bleach or another disinfectant) are all ways to make a difference.
Thanks for reading and please reach out with any questions or thoughts!
All the best,
Ellen & WEL Snake Team
0 comments