lethal salamander fungus also in Belgium

[Jeroen Speybroeck]

In case you haven't heard, a new species of chytrid fungus (which has its optimum at lower temperatures than the related well-known species) has caused a 96% reduction (from 2010 to 2013!) in Dutch fire salamanders (or at least, the only population in The Netherlands that was still large enough to investigate) =>
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/ ... 0.abstract


A lot of questions exist, but this is obviously a serious threat. Last month, a (very) sick salamander was found in Belgium. This clearly indicates that the fungus has the potential to spread and is no longer an isolated, local phenomenon.

"
Deadly skin-eating fungus threatens Belgian Fire Salamander populations

Amphibians are globally threatened by dramatic population declines, which are in part driven by infectious diseases. Despite the well-known occurrence of several infectious amphibian diseases in Belgium, hitherto, they appear not to have significantly affected our native amphibian assemblages.
A novel deadly fungus, Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans, was discovered in 2012 and almost wiped out the fire salamander in the Netherlands. This fungus now has been found in a dying fire salamander in Eupen by researchers of Ghent University.
The finding of the deadly fungus is highly worrisome, since it may be deleterious to the survival of native salamander populations, thus warranting close monitoring of the situation in Eupen and surrounding salamander populations.

Contact:
Prof. An Martel
Department of Pathology, Bacteriology and Avian Diseases
Division for Poultry, Exotic Companion, Wildlife and Laboratory Animals
0496/831161
An.Martel@ugent.be

Prof. Dr. Frank Pasmans
Department of Pathology, Bacteriology and Avian Diseases
Laboratory of Veterinary Bacteriology and Mycology
09/2647436
Frank.Pasmans@ugent.be
"

The city of Eupen lies in a very large axis of woodland stretching from France to Germany across the south of Belgium. We don't know how and how fast the fungus can or will spread, but this should raise major concern in at least the mentioned countries.

[Tom Hoogesteger]

Very, very sad.

[Bart Smit]

that's bad news !

[Niklas Ban]

Do you know something about the status in germany?

[Jeroen Speybroeck]

Do you know something about the status in germany?

No, but the Belgian site is less than 10km away from the border... I haven't checked any atlas data, but I'm guessing there has to be Salamandra somewhere in those woods between Roetgen and Düren (southeast of Aachen), which would be my first target area. Can you (or anyone here) help me to get in touch with local officials and perhaps volunteers (=> jeroenspeybroeck at hotmail dot com)? Obviously, it requires a lot of searching for a sore sight, if the fungus is there.

[Michal Szkudlarek]

The city of Eupen lies in a very large axis of woodland stretching from France to Germany across the south of Belgium.

Hmm that is true but this sentence suggests that there is no possibility for this fungus to affect polish populations. So are they relatively safe?

[Guillaume Gomard]

This paper was also highlighted in Terraria n°44 (Nov/Dec 2013), A.Kwet, 8-9, for those who are interested. Some interesting points (translated from the article):

- The temperature needed for the development of B.salamandrivorans lies between 10°C and 15°C, but a temperature above 25°C seems detrimental= could potentially affect the temperated areas in Europe
- It is still an unknown if B.s can further propagate to other regions and/or other species, or if B.s already extended its propagation range.

[Ulrich Schulte]

Hi Jeroen,

fire salamanders can be found in the area southeast of Aachen. For Northrhine-Wesphalia you
can find the map here:

http://www.herpetofauna-nrw.de/images/3 ... mander.jpg

In the border region in Rhineland-Palatinate a bit further south the species is also common.
For the Düren area you could contact Lutz Dalbeck (lutz.dalbeck(at)biostation-dueren.de).

I will keep my eyes open in the southern Eifel region more south.

Cheers, Ulli

[Jeroen Speybroeck]

Thanks, Ulrich!

Guillaume, the Belgian case has only been released two days ago, so the second "-" becomes just a tiny bit less true. The first, however, still holds. Btw, I believe the PNAS paper is open access, so anyone can read the PDF. If not, let me know and I will send it to Mario.

Michal, of course I am not suggesting that the fungus could not affect Polish (or any) population. We know very little about its dispersal mechanisms, so beware.

[Guillaume Gomard]

Guillaume, the Belgian case has only been released two days ago, so the second "-" becomes just a tiny bit less true. The first, however, still holds. Btw, I believe the PNAS paper is open access, so anyone can read the PDF. If not, let me know and I will send it to Mario.

You're right... not a good news for the Belgian populations. And indeed, PNAS is open access, thanks for the link of this paper.