ACF chytrid risk?

[clownbarb1]

if i was to add some group of african clawed frogs to my fish house(converted garage) is there a possibility that they could transmit chytrid to my other amphibians which also share the garage, i will not get them if so

 

[asfouts]

You are referring specifically to BD fungus. There are 1,000 different chytrid species.

I will make this short and sweet if you want more info I refer you to an article at the bottom. Anyway this fungus is transmitted through the zoospore stage where the spore develops a flagellum and swims through the water to another animal. The fungus
requires moist and cool environments and can survive in water for several months. Practice good hygiene and barrier management. If you discover the disease or fungus don't panic. Isolate that amphibian population and in the article is a list of organizations with vaccinations...

Chytrid Fungus « Amphibian Ark

Hope this helps and fear should not prevent you from buying these lovely creatures. Caution is advised.

 

[xxianxx]

Xenopus can carry chytrid without showing symptoms, an isolation period may not be effective, unless you test then treat the frogs if they are carriers.

 

[frogs1]

Hello, all

I just happened to stumble onto your website while doing a search for info on some leeches in Oregon. I am an amphibian researcher in Central Oregon. Although most of my research is on frogs and toads, I did early graduate studies on salamander chromosomes and have a continuing love of the caudates lo these decades later.

Regarding chytridiomycosis (the disease caused by Bd), four of us published a paper a couple of years ago describing a simple and inexpensive treatment for chytrid infection using the antifungal agent Terbinafine Hydrochloride. This is sold over the counter for athlete's foot under trade name "Lamisil AT". Although the infected animals we used in the study were all anurans (frogs and toads), we did include one salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum) in a series of test for safety and tolerance to the treatment, and they tolerated the treatment with no evidence of side effects. One can expect then that the Lamisil treatment should be effective at eliminating the chytrid fungus from salamanders as it does with frogs.

The full article can be found in the Journal of Herpetological Medicine and Surgery. However, for the home herpetoculturist, here's a thumbnail description of treatment:

1. Obtain Lamisil AT spray at a pharmacy or drug store. It's not always available at all stores. Don't bother trying to treat with Lamisil creme.

2. Prepare a .005-.01% terbinafine solution by putting 1cc of Lamisil (1% TBF) into 100-200cc of water. (Note: because terbinafine is nearly insoluble in water, the formulation is in alcohol and when mixed with water, a cloudy white precipitate forms--this is to be expected and is not a problem. Also, because of the solubility issue, the actual concentration of terbinafine is not terribly important. If careful measuring isn't easy for you, you can achieve effective dosing by knowing that the spray form of Lamisil delivers approximately 1/10 cc per squirt. Thus, 5-10 squirts of the spray into 100 cc of water will give you an effective treatment does.

3. Apply a daily 5-10 minute bath of .005 to .01% terbinafine HCL in water for a total of 5 treatments.

AS others have pointed out, the safest and best approach to keeping your animals healthy is good safety and clean handling practices, quarantining any new animals and avoiding contact with animals of unknown history. Commercially sold animals must always be considered suspect because of the amount of handling and opportunity for cross contamination. If you bring in new animals into your care, keep them isolated and if there's any hint of problems, you can safely treat them with Lamisil as a precaution.

There's plenty of discussions on line describing symptoms of chytridiomycosis. Avoid wanton use of any drug to help avoid the development of resistance. But if your animals start showing signs that could be related to chytrid fungus, the sooner you treat the better.

On a separate note, I originally stumbled onto the Caudata site because of a discussion several years ago regarding leeches on newts. If any of you happen to encounter leeches on salamanders, I would be interested in obtaining specimens, preferably alive. The photograph on the discussion I found looks like a leech from the genus Placobdella. One member of this genus is sometimes called a "salamander leech." However, because the whole of leech taxonomy is in flux and positive identification requires either molecular analysis of DNA or dissection and study of the salivary glands, gonads, etc, positive identification is not for the inexperienced or faint-of-heart.

The rough-skinned newt (T. granulosa) in some ponds in Oregon are sometimes found with numbers of very small leeches that at this time would likely be identified as Placobdella picta but there's plenty of reason to believe that this genus is going to be divided into one or more additional species in the future. Thus, if anyone finds leeches actually attached to salamanders, it would be helpful to save them and send them to me and I'll pass them along to someone who can identify them. They can be saved alive in a watertight container with half water and half air, and then mailed. If holding for any length of time, keep them refrigerated. They are quite hardy and can survive for many days as described above.

jay

 

[Molch]

H

On a separate note, I originally stumbled onto the Caudata site because of a discussion several years ago regarding leeches on newts. If any of you happen to encounter leeches on salamanders, I would be interested in obtaining specimens, preferably alive. The photograph on the discussion I found looks like a leech from the genus Placobdella. One member of this genus is sometimes called a "salamander leech." However, because the whole of leech taxonomy is in flux and positive identification requires either molecular analysis of DNA or dissection and study of the salivary glands, gonads, etc, positive identification is not for the inexperienced or faint-of-heart.

The rough-skinned newt (T. granulosa) in some ponds in Oregon are sometimes found with numbers of very small leeches that at this time would likely be identified as Placobdella picta but there's plenty of reason to believe that this genus is going to be divided into one or more additional species in the future. Thus, if anyone finds leeches actually attached to salamanders, it would be helpful to save them and send them to me and I'll pass them along to someone who can identify them. They can be saved alive in a watertight container with half water and half air, and then mailed. If holding for any length of time, keep them refrigerated. They are quite hardy and can survive for many days as described above.

jay

Hi Jay,
welcome aboard; please, do stick around; we are always happy to get input from knowledgeable researchers.

As for the leech question, it might be a good idea to make a separate thread about it as that will draw more attention. many of us are avid field herpers and I bet you'd get some response.

 

[asfouts]

Frogs1: yes thank you im happy to know there is a easy cure for this.

 

[xxianxx]

Hello, all


Regarding chytridiomycosis (the disease caused by Bd), four of us published a paper a couple of years ago describing a simple and inexpensive treatment for chytrid infection using the antifungal agent Terbinafine Hydrochloride. This is sold over the counter for athlete's foot under trade name "Lamisil AT".

jay

I see you are treating the frog and not the tank, do you remove the frog and increase the temp in its original tank to kill the fungus ? do treated frogs get reinfected from their original tank ? what is the likelihood of splash dispersal of the chytrid fungus, can the spores survive desiccation? Sorry for all the questions i am very interested in this subject but am pretty ignorant of all the science.

 

[xxianxx]

I see you are treating the frog and not the tank, do you remove the frog and increase the temp in its original tank to kill the fungus ? do treated frogs get reinfected from their original tank ? what is the likelihood of splash dispersal of the chytrid fungus, can the spores survive desiccation? Sorry for all the questions i am very interested in this subject but am pretty ignorant of all the science.

The thermal and hydric requirements of the chytrid fungus are the most important determinants of its geographical distribution, and also which amphibians are most likely to be affected by it. The chytrid fungus prefers cooler temperatures: it grows best in the laboratory between 17oC to 23oC, and tends to die above about 28oC. Additionally, the fungus has waterborne zoospores and cannot survive desiccation. Chytridiomycosis is thus most problematic in amphibians living in cool, wet areas. In the lowlands of eastern Australia, chytrid infections in stony creek frogs (Litoria lesueuri complex) are most severe at more southerly, cooler latitudes, and at sites that receive high rainfall. Further, infection prevalence and severity exhibits strong seasonality, increasing in the cooler months of early spring and winter. Temperatures change drastically across altitudes, and as expected based on its preference for cooler temperatures, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis has its most serious effect on amphibians living in montane regions: virtually all of the amphibian declines caused by B. dendrobatidis have taken place at high altitudes. On a smaller geographic scale, B. dendrobatidis is most likely to affect amphibians that breed in permanent flowing water (as opposed to amphibians that breed in ephemeral water bodies, ponds, or leaf-litter). This is because the chytrid fungus (1) cannot survive desiccation, and thus prefers permanent water bodies; and (2) prefers streams, as they tend to be cooler than ponds and are able to transport the waterborne zoospores of the fungus long distances.


Answered my question about splash dispersal. http://www.savethefrogs.com/chytrid/