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First report of ophidiomycosis in Asia caused by Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola in captive snakes in Japan.

ABSTRACT: Ophidiomycosis is an emerging infectious disease caused by the fungus Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola, which has been affecting wild and captive snakes in North America, Europe, and Australia. We report 12 cases of suspected ophidiomycosis in captive colubrid snakes in Japan. Pathological and microbiological examinations were performed, and the results confirmed the diagnosis of ophidiomycosis in two snakes, which indicated that the remaining sympatrically raised snakes also had ophidiomycosis since they exhibited similar lesions. This is the first report of ophidiomycosis in Asia caused by O. ophiodiicola. To prevent the expansion of ophidiomycosis in the natural environment in Japan, there is a need to evaluate the ophidiomycosis carrier status of imported snakes, the pathogenicity of the infection in native snakes, and the prevalence and distribution of O. ophiodiicola in wild and captive snakes. Measures also must be taken to prevent endemicity globally.

SUBMITTER: Takami Y

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8437724 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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First report of ophidiomycosis in Asia caused by Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola in captive snakes in Japan.

Takami Yoshinori Y Nam Kyung-Ok KO Takaki Youki Y Kadekaru Sho S Hemmi Chizuka C Hosoya Tsuyoshi T Une Yumi Y

The Journal of veterinary medical science 20210625 8

Ophidiomycosis is an emerging infectious disease caused by the fungus Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola, which has been affecting wild and captive snakes in North America, Europe, and Australia. We report 12 cases of suspected ophidiomycosis in captive colubrid snakes in Japan. Pathological and microbiological examinations were performed, and the results confirmed the diagnosis of ophidiomycosis in two snakes, which indicated that the remaining sympatrically raised snakes also had ophidiomycosis since t ...[more]

PMID: 34176821

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Project description:Ophidiomycosis (snake fungal disease) is an infectious disease caused by the fungus Ophidiomyces ophidiicola to which all snake species appear to be susceptible. Significant variation has been observed in clinical presentation, progression of disease, and response to treatment, which may be due to genetic variation in the causative agent. Recent phylogenetic analysis based on whole-genome sequencing identified that O. ophidiicola strains from the United States formed a clade distinct from European strains, and that multiple clonal lineages of the clade are present in the United States. The purpose of this study was to design a qPCR-based genotyping assay for O. ophidiicola, then apply that assay to swab-extracted DNA samples to investigate whether the multiple O. ophidiicola clades and clonal lineages in the United States have specific geographic, taxonomic, or temporal predilections. To this end, six full genome sequences of O. ophidiicola representing different clades and clonal lineages were aligned to identify genomic areas shared between subsets of the isolates. Eleven hydrolysis-based Taqman primer-probe sets were designed to amplify selected gene segments and produce unique amplification patterns for each isolate, each with a limit of detection of 10 or fewer copies of the target sequence and an amplification efficiency of 90-110%. The qPCR-based approach was validated using samples from strains known to belong to specific clades and applied to swab-extracted O. ophidiicola DNA samples from multiple snake species, states, and years. When compared to full-genome sequencing, the qPCR-based genotyping assay assigned 75% of samples to the same major clade (Cohen's kappa = 0.360, 95% Confidence Interval = 0.154-0.567) with 67-77% sensitivity and 88-100% specificity, depending on clade/clonal lineage. Swab-extracted O. ophidiicola DNA samples from across the United States were assigned to six different clonal lineages, including four of the six established lineages and two newly defined groups, which likely represent recombinant strains of O. ophidiicola. Using multinomial logistic regression modeling to predict clade based on snake taxonomic group, state of origin, and year of collection, state was the most significant predictor of clonal lineage. Furthermore, clonal lineage was not associated with disease severity in the most intensely sampled species, the Lake Erie watersnake (Nerodia sipedon insularum). Overall, this assay represents a rapid, cost-effective genotyping method for O. ophidiicola that can be used to better understand the epidemiology of ophidiomycosis.

Project description:Ophidiomycosis is an emerging infectious disease caused by the fungus Ophidiomyces ophidiicola (Oo). To date, Oo presence or associated disease condition has been recorded in wild and/or captive snakes from North America, Europe, Asia and Australia, but the data is still scarce outside the Nearctic. Although Italy is a country with a high snake biodiversity in the European panorama, and animals with clinical signs compatible with Oo infection have been documented, to date no investigations have reported the disease in the wild. Therefore, a pilot survey for the Italian territory was performed in conjunction with setting up a complete diagnostic workflow including SYBR Green-based real-time PCR assay for the detection of Oo genomic and mitochondrial DNA combined with histopathology of scale clips. Oo presence was investigated in 17 wild snake specimens from four different species. Four snakes were sampled in a targeted location where the mycosis was suspected via citizen science communications (i.e. North of the Lake Garda), whereas other ophidians were collected following opportunistic sampling. Oo genomic and mitochondrial DNA were detected and sequenced from all four Lake Garda Natrix tessellata, including three juveniles with macroscopic signs such as discolouration and skin crusts. From histopathological examination of scale clips, the three young positive individuals exhibited ulceration, inflammation and intralesional hyphae consistent with Oo infection, and two of them also showed the presence of arthroconidial tufts and solitary cylindrical arthrospores, allowing "Ophidiomycosis and Oo shedder" categorisation. For the remaining snake samples, the real-time PCR tested negative for Oo. This pilot survey permitted to localise for the first time Oo infection in free-ranging ophidians from Italy. Ophidiomycosis from Lake Garda highlights the need to increase sampling efforts in this area as well as in other northern Italian lakes to assess the occurrence of the pathogen, possible risk factors of the infection, its impact on host population fitness and the disease ecology of Oo in European snakes.

Dataset Information

First report of ophidiomycosis in Asia caused by Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola in captive snakes in Japan.

Publications

First report of ophidiomycosis in Asia caused by Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola in captive snakes in Japan.

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