Using population genetics, Ladner et al. ( 2022) proposed Oo has been introduced to North America multiple times between 17, which could support established historical presence in some populations and potentially, pathogen novelty in others. Recently published retrospective surveys for Oo in preserved snake specimens corroborated these possibilities by showing evidence that Oo infected wild snakes as early as 1945 in the eastern U.S. Other infections may have been responsible for these observations however, these reports provide anecdotal evidence for the possibility that Oo may be naturally occurring or at least has maintained a historical presence in some snake populations. Historically, there are reports of “hibernation blisters” or “hibernation sores” on snakes that emerge from brumation (Clark et al., 2011 Lorch et al., 2016). However, a recent study proposed that Oo should be viewed as naturally occurring rather than novel, and an unrecognized yet common fungal pathogen of snakes as opposed to a newly emergent pathogen (Davy et al., 2021). In light of these observations, Oo has been referred to as an emerging fungal pathogen of snakes (Allender, Raudabaugh, et al., 2015 Franklinos et al., 2017 Grioni et al., 2021 Guthrie et al., 2016 Lorch et al., 2016 McKenzie et al., 2019 Ohkura et al., 2017). Thus, it now seems to be distributed across the contiguous U.S. Recently, Oo was detected in Idaho (Allender et al., 2020) and California (Haynes et al., 2021). Since then, the pathogen has been detected in wild snakes throughout the Midwest and eastern U.S. In snakes, Ophidiomyces ophidiicola ( Oo)-the causative fungal pathogen of ophidiomycosis-was first described in 2009 (Rajeev et al., 2009) but may have contributed to the decline of viper populations in New Hampshire in 2006 (Clark et al., 2011) and Illinois in 2008 (Allender et al., 2011). Notably, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Lips et al., 2006 Vredenburg et al., 2010) and Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Martel et al., 2013 Spitzen‐van der Sluijs et al., 2013) were linked to amphibian population declines worldwide, while Pseudogymnoascus destructans has been linked to the collapse of some North American bat populations (Blehert et al., 2009 Thogmartin et al., 2012). EIDs caused by fungal pathogens have emerged as threats to plants and animals across the globe (Fisher et al., 2016 Gurr et al., 2011) and are a concern for wildlife because of their potential to trigger the collapse of afflicted populations (Berger et al., 1998 Frick et al., 2010 Lips et al., 2003). Thus, our results will guide future research to those areas with evidence of past Oo infections but lacking confirmation in contemporary hosts.Įmerging infectious diseases (EIDs) are defined as diseases that are novel to science, novel to a population, or are known to be naturally occurring yet suddenly increase in prevalence or range owing to some factor or set of factors (Daszak et al., 2000 Morse, 1995). These data narrow the knowledge gap regarding the history of Oo infections in Texas and establish a historical record of confirmed Oo detections in several counties across the state. Our results support the hypothesis that Oo is an emerging, novel pathogen to Texas snakes. We detected six spatial clusters of Oo infection, although only one was significant. Within these data, we detected an incidence pattern consistent with an introduction and then spread. We found that the proportion of snakes exhibiting SOI was constant over time while the prevalence of Oo DNA among those SOI increased across space and time. We also tested for significant spatial clusters of Oo infenction using a Bernoulli probability model as implemented in the program SatScan. We then used quantitative polymerase chain reaction to diagnose the presence of Oo DNA on areas with SOI and used these data to evaluate spatiotemporal patterns of Oo prevalence. First, we visually assessed snakes for signs of infection (SOI), and if SOI were present, we sampled the affected area. To address this knowledge gap, we conducted surveys for Oo among preserved Nerodia deposited at three university museums in Texas. Oo infections have been confirmed in wild snake populations in Texas however, it is unknown if the pathogen is novel (i.e., invasive) or endemic to the state. Ophidiomycosis has often been referred to as an emerging infectious disease (EID) however, its status as an EID has recently come under debate. Ophidiomyces ophidiicola ( Oo) is a fungal pathogen and the causative agent of ophidiomycosis that has affected multiple snake taxa across the United States, Europe, and Asia.
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